


Cream Puffs

by Skye_Maxwell



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Dorks in Love, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2020-06-29 10:26:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 23,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19828231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_Maxwell/pseuds/Skye_Maxwell
Summary: A haven in the rift of sweet, fluffy Souyo goodness.





	1. Follow Your Soul

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a place for my little Tumblr fics to live, so here we are. Like cream puffs, I'm gonna try and keep these short, sweet, and fluffy (and then I will build them up into a magnificent croquembouche!) Will be updating this intermittently while I work on my other projects.
> 
> This first chapter is inspired by the song "King" by Blue October. Enjoy! ♥

As best friends, Yosuke and Souji had a lot of movie nights together, but tonight was their first movie night since they started dating. 

It felt different than usual, but it wasn’t necessarily bad, Yosuke decided. 

No, nothing could be that bad now that he was with Souji. 

As soon as they dimmed the lights and started the movie, there was a bit of awkwardness between them, a shared moment of hesitation.

The opening sequence of the movie hadn’t even finished when Yosuke tentatively asked, “Partner? Can I… hold…”

When Yosuke couldn’t finish the question, Souji looked at him with big, inquiring eyes, but then he smiled and held out his hand for Yosuke to take. 

Yosuke shook his head, wishing his heart didn’t get so distractingly fluttery at times like this. 

“Uh, I actually meant… you.”

“Me?” Souji asked, tilting his head in that endearing little way that reminded Yosuke of a confused puppy. 

Yosuke sighed and clenched his fists, gathering his courage. 

He blurted out, “Can I hold you?”

At first Souji looked surprised, but then he looked so, _so_ happy that Yosuke couldn’t help but mirror Souji’s sweet smile.

It took them a few tries until they found a position that was comfortable, but they eventually settled with Yosuke’s chest pressed to Souji’s back and Yosuke’s arms wrapped around Souji’s middle. 

“This feels nice,” Souji said, and Yosuke could tell how genuine that sentiment was just from the warmth in his Partner’s voice. 

Feeling a wave of relief and affection, Yosuke let his chin fall on top of Souji’s shoulder. 

He laughed a little and admitted, “This isn’t what I thought this would feel like.”

“Oh,” Souji said shortly, stiffening a bit in Yosuke’s arms. “You… thought about what it would feel like?”

Yosuke laughed again, nervously this time. “Crap, I guess I can’t deny it now, huh?”

Souji asked quietly, “Is it… worse?” 

“Worse?”

“Worse than what you imagined?”

“What? No, of course not. Relax,” Yosuke replied gently, and Souji did relax, readjusting himself in Yosuke’s hold. Yosuke reassured him, “It’s _better_ than I imagined. For one thing, I can smell your hair like this.”

Yosuke pressed his nose to the back of Souji’s head and sniffed exaggeratedly, making Souji laugh. 

“Your hair smells so good,” Yosuke said playfully, continuing to sniff different sections of Souji’s hair.

“I’m glad you think so, but—” Souji was barely able to object through the laughter he was trying to hold in, “—that tickles! You’re like a puppy, sniffing at me like that.” 

Yosuke chuckled cheerfully but then complied with Souji’s wishes, pressing his forehead to the back of Souji’s head and closing his eyes. 

“Honestly, Partner…” he said, gathering his courage again so he could speak the truth. “I thought doing something like this would make me feel like a girl or something, but having you in my arms… makes me feel like a king.”

Souji quickly whipped his head around, and Yosuke had to catch himself as his head fell forward. When their gazes met, Souji looked somewhat apologetic before thoroughly searching Yosuke’s eyes. 

Apparently he liked whatever he found there, because he smiled so tenderly it made Yosuke’s chest seize up and made the explanation for his assertion stick in his throat. 

Souji shifted his whole body around so he could hold Yosuke too, burying his face in Yosuke’s shoulder and pulling Yosuke so tightly to himself that Yosuke actually had to work a little harder to breathe. 

Yosuke was warmed through by Souji’s actions, and he realized they were currently closer than they had ever been before.

Even if Yosuke had nothing else in the world, this singular moment holding and being held by Souji was enough. 

This feeling—love, Yosuke decided he would call it—was better than anything he would have dared to imagine before. 

Softly, contently, Souji said, “I like this.” 

“I like this too,” Yosuke replied, pressing his nose to the middle of Souji’s bangs and breathing in slowly, deeply. 

Yosuke had learned a lot of things in his second year: you have to face and accept the worst and darkest parts of yourself; forging bonds with friends who accept you for who you are can flood precious light into those areas of darkness; and you _really_ shouldn’t swing dangerous weapons around in the Junes food court (at least, not when cops are around).

But one of the most important lessons he had learned was to follow his heart, or more like (since he had a Persona and all) to follow his soul—to run swiftly after his dreams with more urgency than he ran away from his shadow. 

And thankfully, his soul had led him straight into Souji’s arms.


	2. Yosuke vs. Pillow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on my phone while I was lying in bed holding a pillow and trying to be asleep. :P

Yosuke knows that when it comes to Souji, his jealousy can get out of hand.

Like right now, Yosuke is jealous of a pillow.

Specifically, a pillow that Souji is hugging tightly to his chest in his sleep.

Yosuke knows it’s ridiculous and mentally berates himself even as he quietly slips out of his work uniform and into his sleeping clothes.

Still, as he climbs into his side of the bed, he wishes he didn’t have to work so late so he could be in Souji’s arms as he fell asleep instead of the stupid pillow.

He lies on his side and tiredly stares at Souji’s face and wonders hopelessly if he can slip the pillow out of his grasp without waking him up. Why is he squeezing the damn thing so tightly anyways?

Then Yosuke has a moment of realization, and he feels even more silly.

Souji probably wishes the pillow was Yosuke too.

Souji loves him, after all—loves sleeping beside him, loves holding him, loves _him_ overall.

Yosuke leans in and softly pecks Souji’s lips, and Souji’s eyelids slowly blink open.

As soon as he fully registers Yosuke’s presence, Souji grabs a fistful of the pillow and chucks it _hard_ over his shoulder, and they both flinch a bit as it smacks into their dresser and knocks over some of the picture frames and knick-knacks that live on top of it.

“Oops,” Souji says half-heartedly.

It doesn’t sound like anything broke though, so Souji scoots toward Yosuke with minimal regret and tightly encircles him in his arms. He much prefers this living, breathing, beautiful human being over some dumb old pillow. Yosuke comes with an unlimited supply of heat and smells like baked bread and warm sugar (he must have been working in the bakery department today) and has a rhythm in his chest that is the most intoxicating lullaby imaginable.

Souji falls back asleep as Yosuke is pressing a long kiss to his forehead, and it makes Yosuke feel like he’s at a much higher altitude, looking down on the world below.

Strangely enough, he feels a little bad for the pillow lying on the cold floor now, uprooted from the most wonderful arms in the world and so violently discarded, only to be immediately replaced.

But then, as he swiftly follows Souji into the realm of sound sleep, Yosuke feels proud.

_Yeah, take that, pillow,_ Yosuke thinks as he drifts off. _You’re the one who should be jealous of me._

Perhaps if Yosuke remembered this train of thought in the morning, he’d be a bit more critical of it, but for now, he’s the winner in the battle of Yosuke versus pillow, and ultimately, just a winner overall— _he’s_ the one Souji wants to hold through the night.


	3. Partner-sicle

Yosuke stopped stirring the beef stew to glance at his watch _ again, _ knowing that Souji should be home by now. 

Usually, living within walking distance of Souji’s office was convenient, but when the ground was covered in snow, it was a different story. 

Their entire city had transformed into a winter wonderland overnight, though ‘wonderland’ was probably too romantic a term for the frigid death trap outside their door. 

Yosuke had tried his best to keep Souji in bed that morning, but his dutiful Partner  _ had _ to go to work, saying he had ‘no excuse’ since he lived so close. 

All Yosuke could do was help bundle Souji up in his many layers and then send him away with some embarrassingly passionate kisses that in the best case would have convinced Souji to stay home but at the very least would keep his mouth and cheeks warm for the duration of his walk. 

All day, Yosuke played the role of worried housewife, channeling his nervous energy into doing chores around the apartment and constantly looking out the window as snow continued to fall and pile up on the ground. 

When Souji called during his lunch break, Yosuke had tried to convince him to come home early since the forecast wasn’t getting any better, but of course it hadn’t worked. As always, Souji was swamped with his many obligations at the office that were apparently more important than his own well-being (and Yosuke’s sanity). 

After Yosuke folded all the laundry, dusted every surface, and alphabetized every spice in the cabinet (he knew he was becoming more and more like Souji every day but couldn’t find it in himself to be mad about it), he finally decided to break out Souji’s handwritten recipe cards and prepare a stew that Souji made him the last time he had a bad cold. Even if Souji returned home as a Partner-sicle, a nice, hot stew would help thaw him out. 

Though at this point, Yosuke had to wonder if Souji really was a Partner-sicle now, out there frozen to the sidewalk somewhere. He had offered to pick Souji up after work (on foot since that was their only option), but Souji had adamantly told Yosuke to stay put. He said it ‘didn’t make sense’ for Yosuke to go out in this weather (the hypocrite), but Yosuke argued that at least they’d be together and he wouldn’t have to worry about Souji getting home safely. 

Yosuke had lost the argument, however, so now he had to suffer through imagining all the perils that could have befallen his Partner. 

So when he heard a noise outside the front door, Yosuke shut the stove off, threw his spoon down, and  _ ran _ to the living room. 

Souji slammed the door shut behind him and then started violently stripping layers off, looking almost angry as he threw the wet articles of clothing to the ground. 

“Partner! You survived!” Yosuke said happily despite his concern for Souji’s mood. 

Souji didn’t reply, completely focused on kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his heavy outer coat. 

“Are you okay there, Partner?” Yosuke asked hesitantly, inching toward Souji but not wanting to get caught up in the whirlwind of flying clothing. 

He still didn’t reply, as it seemed he had gone into what Yosuke called his ‘Silent Mode,’ which typically only happened when he was overwhelmed in some way. 

As soon as Souji got down to a couple final layers of dry clothing, he looked pathetically up at Yosuke through wet bangs and opened his arms. 

Yosuke nearly tripped over Souji’s pile of discarded clothing as he bounded over and gathered him up in his embrace.

“Holy _ shit _ you’re cold,” Yosuke remarked, rubbing up and down Souji’s back with both hands. 

Souji’s only response was to press closer to Yosuke. 

“You’re shivering,” Yosuke said sadly, feeling the uneven tremors wracking Souji’s frame. “You need a warm shower and then we’ll get some hot food in you—”

“I shouldn’t have…” Souji began miserably, pressing his cold nose against Yosuke’s neck. 

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Yosuke said, running his fingers through Souji’s snowflake-laden hair and willing all the warmth from his body to transfer into Souji’s. “You’re a really good employee. The best one ever. They’re lucky to have you. They don’t deserve you. Nobody does.” 

“Nobody but you,” Souji said quietly as his shivering started to settle down. “It smells good in here.”

“Heh, I made your beef stew recipe! I hope it tastes okay.” 

“That sounds amazing. Can we eat first?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Can I wear your sweater?” Souji asked, pressing his face against Yosuke’s collar and breathing in deeply. 

“Ha, yeah, as soon as we let go, you can have my sweater.”

“Don’t let go yet,” Souji requested, lifting his head and resting his chin on Yosuke’s shoulder. “Did you clean the whole apartment?” he asked, looking around.

“Uh, most of it? Don’t worry about it.”

“I should have stayed home with you.”

“Yeah, but… you can make it up to me by staying home tomorrow?”

“Only if I get kisses like the ones from this morning.”

Yosuke scoffed. “Shouldn’t  _ I _ have the upper hand in this negotiation? And I don’t know, I was kind of insulted when those kisses didn’t convince you to stay in today.” 

“I’m sorry. I was so tempted,” Souji said, sounding genuinely devastated. “Knowing I could have had that all day made everything even more awful.” 

“Aww, okay,” Yosuke laughed playfully, patting Souji’s head. “You can have more, I guess.”

“You  _ guess?” _ Souji half-whined. 

“You’re staying home tomorrow, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then you can  _ definitely _ have as many of those kisses as you want,” Yosuke promised, warming Souji’s mouth once more by planting the first of many kisses on Souji’s lips. 


	4. Please Close Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For [Treya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/treya_barton).

Yosuke and Souji were _finally_ making out for the first time, but there was one thing stopping Yosuke from being completely into it. 

Souji wouldn’t close his damn eyes. 

_“Partner,”_ Yosuke panted, trying to pull away, but Souji pulled him back to himself with both hands, seeming to already be intoxicated with all of this despite having been shy about physical affection at first.

Yosuke pulled back harder, feeling like he was trying to pry his face from a particularly strong suction cup. 

“Pause! For like _one_ second!” Yosuke cried, which seemed to clear the haze in Souji’s eyes a bit. 

“What’s wrong?” Souji asked, sitting back against the armrest of the couch and searching Yosuke’s face. 

“Dude, why are you keeping your eyes open?”

Souji blinked a couple times before answering. “So I can see?” 

“Not right now, you dope! I meant while we’re kissing. Everyone knows you’re supposed to close your eyes!” 

“I didn’t know that,” Souji said, and Yosuke could tell he was telling the truth. “I just want to see you.”

“You wanna see me?” 

“Yeah, I want to look at you. I like looking at you.”

“Okay, but you’re not really looking at _me_ ,” Yosuke said, crossing his arms. “Up close, you’re just looking at one big eyeball. One _closed_ eyeball.” 

“That’s okay. I like your one closed eyeball. It’s pretty.”

“Geez, Partner,” Yosuke sighed, uncrossing his arms and setting a hand on Souji’s knee. Souji was being awkward for a sweet reason, he guessed, but that didn’t make it less awkward. “Look, if you close your eyes, it’ll like, heighten your other senses or something, so you can focus on how it, you know, _feels.”_

Understanding seemed to light in Souji’s eyes, and he declared confidently, “Don’t look, feel!” 

“Gah! Don’t make me think about Chie right now!” Yosuke yelled, backing away from Souji. “I mean, yeah, that’s the basic idea, but… damn it, Partner.”

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable,” Souji said, looking down at Yosuke’s hand on his knee.

“It’s okay, man. You don’t have to apologize.” 

“But I still want to look at you.” 

“That’s okay too,” Yosuke said, rubbing Souji’s knee. “But, uh, next time, could you at least _try_ closing your eyes?”

Souji nodded fervently. “And to make it up to you, I’ll let you look at one of your favorite parts of me.”

“Huh?” Yosuke said uncertainly, having a strong feeling he was about to be mortified. 

That feeling was completely correct, as Souji lifted the hem of his polo shirt, revealing his abs. 

“H-hey! When the _hell_ did I ever say anything about liking… _those?”_ Yosuke asked, looking away insistently.

“I’m not blind, Yosuke,” Souji said, keeping his shirt pulled up like it was the most normal, casual thing ever. 

So _maybe_ Yosuke had taken a few extended glances in the direction of Souji’s taut stomach muscles whenever he got the chance, but that didn’t mean… 

_“Damn_ it,” Yosuke said, no longer able to look away and turning to stare at Souji’s abs. “They’re so nice. I hate how nice they are.”

Souji looked pleased in that stupidly innocent way of his. “Would you like to touch them?”

“N-no!” Yosuke screeched, completely flustered as he lunged forward and tugged Souji’s shirt back down. “I mean, I’m sure they feel great! Just… not yet! Ugh, why do you… _how_ do you do this to me?!” 

Souji shrugged and then moved in to kiss Yosuke on the nose, and as Yosuke crossed his eyes to look at his Partner, he saw that Souji was actually closing his eyes this time.

Souji sat back and told Yosuke, “You’re supposed to close your eyes. Everyone knows you’re supposed to—” 

“Shut up, man!” Yosuke said, exasperated and laughing and very much wanting to start kissing again now that his obnoxious, attractive, ab-tastic boyfriend knew how to close his damn eyes.


	5. The Nature of Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is established relationship (for a month or two), second year. Enjoy!

It was a bracingly chilly night in late autumn, and it seemed like the only part of Souji that was warm was the hand that was holding Yosuke’s. They’d veered off the path toward their homes after eating out for dinner, opting to extend their time together as much as possible. 

They were sitting in the grass now, pressed close together, hands intertwined, and faces upturned toward the sky. It was a perfectly clear night, made impossibly bright by a nearly-full moon and a sky that was absolutely crowded with stars. 

Souji knew stargazing was supposed to be romantic, but even amidst the beauty only Inaba could provide him, he couldn’t stop certain negative thoughts from swirling around in his mind. 

Souji didn’t know what he’d done to earn Yosuke’s affection, so he was constantly paranoid that he would lose it someday. He was still just himself, after all—the same odd, boring self he had been before moving to Inaba—and Yosuke was bound to eventually figure out that Souji wasn’t really special at all. 

He felt like he was just like one of those stars overhead, but not in a good, sparkly way like Teddie, or in a dazzling, magnetic way like Risette. 

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, Partner?” Yosuke asked, propping his chin on Souji’s shoulder and staring at the side of his face. 

Still gazing up at the sky, Souji said, “I feel like one of those stars. Cold, and distant, and unremarkable next to all those other stars. And when I’m in the city… invisible.”

Souji felt Yosuke readjust his head—felt the side of Yosuke’s jaw come to rest against his shoulder, felt Yosuke continuing to stare up at him… 

“Yeah, you  _ are _ like one of those stars,” Yosuke said. 

Even though Souji was the one who had started it, he wasn’t exactly pleased to hear Yosuke agree so easily. 

Yosuke laughed a little though, pushing his index finger to the corner of Souji’s mouth, which apparently had been downturned in a frown. 

“Man, you’re really dumb sometimes, Partner. Did you forget everything you ever learned in science, Mr. Academics?” 

“What?” Souji asked, forcing his face back to its default neutral expression. 

“Have you ever gotten really close to a star?”

“I wouldn’t be alive if I had.”

“Well, from here, those stars might look distant and cold, but I’m pretty sure the closer you got to one, the more you’d realize it was the brightest, warmest, most fascinating, most  _ special _ thing you’d ever seen.”

Seeing that Yosuke was trying to be sweet, Souji opted not to argue about how getting really close to a star and continuing to look at it would cause blindness and (again) death. 

“Yosuke, I—”

“No,” Yosuke interrupted firmly, using both hands now to grip Souji’s one hand. “I’m not gonna let you insult yourself with metaphors. Call yourself whatever the hell you want, and I’ll turn that shit around on you! You’re a damn star, and you’re the  _ hottest _ thing in the sky.”

Souji found himself laughing in both amusement and embarrassment at Yosuke’s insistence.

Yosuke lifted a gentle hand to turn Souji’s face toward his own, and the jolt Souji got from maximum eye contact with Yosuke shocked the laughter right out of him. 

Yosuke said softly, “You’re better than every other damn ball of gas up there, Partner, and I know that because you let me get close to you, and I am the luckiest guy in the universe.” 

Heart pounding with anticipation and  _ love _ and everything bittersweet, Souji asked, “And when I’m back in the city?” 

Yosuke answered, “No matter how many other stars I can see, you’ll always be the one I’ll look for. You’ll never be invisible to me.” 

Souji felt his insides warming, melting, thawing… 

“I love you, Yosuke.”

Smiling right in Souji’s face, Yosuke said, “That was really romantic of me, right?” 

“It was until you ruined it,” Souji laughed, and then he leaned in to kiss Yosuke. 

“Ow ow ow, you scorched me!” Yosuke exclaimed in fake pain, jerking away as if he had been burned by Souji’s mouth. “You’re too hot! You’re so irresponsible!” 

“Come here,” Souji demanded, wrapping his arms around a gleeful, flailing Yosuke and tackling him sideways. “That smart mouth of yours is about to get burned to a crisp!”


	6. Still Growing

As usual, as soon as the train came to a stop, Souji was hopping off of it, bag in hand, and making a beeline toward Yosuke, who had been smiling and waving since the train had entered his line of sight. 

Souji was about to drop his bag and throw himself into Yosuke’s arms when something made him hesitate, causing him to stop a couple feet from Yosuke and just stare at him. 

“What’s up, Partner?” Yosuke asked, still smiling despite his Partner’s odd behavior. 

Souji just continued to silently scrutinize Yosuke, particularly his face, so Yosuke asked, “What, did you miss my beautiful face or something? Fine, go ahead, drink it in, drink it in.”

Souji did just that, continuing to stare with such quiet intensity that even Yosuke was starting to get uncomfortable. 

“Okay, okay! That’s enough drinking it in; you’re gonna drown! What’s going on with you?” 

Souji finally dropped his bag and took a couple of steps forward to close the distance between them, and then he leaned forward to give Yosuke the briefest kiss, eyes still open and appraising. 

“Oh, so you were just impatient to get to the good stuff, huh?” Yosuke asked with a relieved grin. “You could’ve just said so!” 

“You’ve gotten taller,” Souji said quietly, still right in Yosuke’s face since he hadn’t bothered to remove himself from Yosuke’s personal space. 

“Have I?” Yosuke asked, happy to finally hear his Partner’s voice. 

“I didn’t have to tilt my head down to kiss you.” 

“Oh, I guess I must’ve had a growth spurt since the last time I saw you, then!” Yosuke said, looking pleased as he placed a flat hand on top of his own head and slid it forward on top of Souji’s, seeing their heights were now almost perfectly even. “But hey, you didn’t have to lean down  _ that _ much before.”

Souji shook his head. “Just barely, but enough to notice a difference now.” 

“Well, my dad says he didn’t stop growing until he was like twenty, so I might still have a ways to go!” Yosuke said excitedly, reaching forward to take both of Souji’s hands in his. 

“Don’t get taller than me,” Souji requested, linking their fingers together. 

Yosuke chuckled a little and then placed a kiss on the tip of Souji’s nose.

“And why not?” he asked teasingly. “Would that hurt your manly pride?” 

“No. I just like being even,” Souji said simply, leaning in for another peck on Yosuke’s lips. With a small smile, he said, “Convenient.”

Then he did it again, and again, and again, just tiny little kisses that showed how easily he could do so now. 

“Hey! Stop that!” Yosuke laughed, unable to swat Souji away since their hands were linked together and Souji wouldn’t let go. 

“No,” Souji said flatly, quickly kissing Yosuke again. 

Yosuke was dangerously close to a laughing fit as Souji kept pecking at him like a chicken, planting kisses on Yosuke’s cheeks when he squirmed too much and he couldn’t get to his mouth. 

“Soooouji! Sto-haha-stop!” 

“No,” Souji said again. “I missed your beautiful face, and now that I have easy access, I’ll do what I want.” 

“Bahaha, fine! But just kiss me normally, you weirdo!” Yosuke pleaded, suppressing his laughter by taking the lead and pressing a long, firm kiss to Souji’s lips. 

“Convenient,” Souji whispered, gladly giving into the rest of Yosuke’s indulgent kisses. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much smooch! :O  
> I swear, I don't know where all this fluff comes from.   
> But I am all for same-height Souyo! :D


	7. Temerate (To Break a Bond)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These next few chapters are gonna be prompt fills from a cool [list](https://skye-maxwell.tumblr.com/post/188020392317/writing-challenge-prompt-list) I found on Tumblr. This one is for [lod](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lod/pseuds/lod/works)!
> 
>  **Temerate** : to break a bond or a promise

Lying on his side in the dark, Souji was full of regret and a grating pain in the pit of his gut that he hadn’t been able to shake for hours. 

“You promised you wouldn’t do this again,” Yosuke said, holding Souji protectively in his arms and gently stroking his slightly sweaty hair even though he was currently upset with him. 

“I know,” Souji said miserably, burrowing further into Yosuke’s chest and kicking off the blanket that was entangling his legs in unwanted heat. 

“So why’d you do it?” 

“They challenged me.”

Yosuke breathed a long exhale into Souji’s hair, holding back a more exaggerated sigh. 

“And you seriously couldn’t back down from a challenge?”

Momentarily feeling childish, Souji replied petulantly, “No.”

“Don’t give me lip, mister. You know you’re not supposed to break your promises.”

Dropping the attitude, Souji hiccupped, “I’m sor-sorry.” 

His insides were writhing from his earlier mistake, a sensation that was not helped in the slightest by the guilt he felt from breaking the promise he’d made to Yosuke to not do any more crazy eating challenges. 

But the Big Bang Burger Challenge hadn’t seemed _that_ difficult, and his friends had pressured him into it… 

“They really wanted me to do it,” Souji tried. “They even paid for my food when I couldn’t finish the challenge.”

“Don’t use your so-called friends as an excuse. You’re a big boy and can make your own decisions, including the good decision of saying _no_ once in a while. If your friends wanted you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?” 

“How high is the bridge?”

“Souji!”

“How likely am I to die from the jump?”

“You’re likely to die _right now_ if you don’t stop it,” Yosuke threatened. 

“How happy would it make my friends to see me jump?” Souji asked, now strangely invested in this hypothetical. 

“Quit joking around! I’m being serious right now.”

Souji just groaned in response as his stomach rumbled painfully, and in that moment he wondered if he was being punished for trying to make light of things. 

What he really wanted was for this lecture to be over. 

Still, he clutched Yosuke more tightly to himself, desperately trying to find some comfort in the pain. 

“You’re not a teenager anymore, you know,” Yosuke continued. “You can’t shovel down anything you find in your uncle’s refrigerator and expect not to pay for it later.” 

“I’m twenty,” Souji said weakly, wincing at the effort just to speak. “I’m barely past being a teenager.”

“That’s not the point! You caved to peer pressure again, you broke your promise to me, and you made yourself sick, and that’s not okay,” Yosuke said, sounding genuinely frustrated now as he listed Souji’s offenses. 

“I’m sorry,” Souji whimpered pathetically, kneading the back of Yosuke’s shirt in his fist. 

“Okay,” Yosuke breathed, rubbing Souji’s back soothingly and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Just… promise me you won’t do it again?” 

In a small voice, Souji asked, “Why would you trust me after I already broke my first promise?” 

“You’re the most trustworthy person I know. That doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes. I just hope you’ll learn from this and take better care of yourself,” Yosuke said patiently.

While Souji appreciated that more than he could ever express, he was also very distracted by how devastatingly _cute_ a long-suffering, maternal Yosuke was. 

“I like when _you_ take care of me,” Souji half-joked, nuzzling against Yosuke’s collarbone. 

“Well, you don’t need to make yourself sick for that to happen. Now shut up and try to get some sleep.”

“Okay, Yosuke,” Souji said tiredly, always liking how those words sounded together. 

“Do you think you’ll be okay, or should I put a puke bucket next to the bed?” 

“Bucket, please,” Souji said, feeling a strong wave of nausea even as he said it. 

Yosuke pulled away to go fetch the bucket, and Souji immediately felt lonely. He rolled over to lie flat on his back, but for some reason that made his stomach hurt even worse.

“I promise!” he suddenly called after Yosuke, not able to see exactly where he was in the dark. 

Souji heard Yosuke shuffle back over and the weight of the bucket as he set it down on the floor. Then he felt Yosuke’s fingers searching for his shoulder before he leaned down and managed to kiss Souji right in the middle of his cheek. 

“Thank you,” Yosuke said lovingly, and Souji knew in that moment with startling clarity that if it was in his power, he would never let Yosuke down again.


	8. Meriggiare (Summer Brunch)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a prompt fill for @memoriesofyourdread on Tumblr. :)
> 
>  **Merrigiare** : to rest at noon, more likely in a shady spot outdoors

It was a perfectly sunny morning in early September, with no clouds in the sky and a pleasant warmth in the air that seemed to cling to the last tendrils of summer. ****

Yosuke had his typical early-morning Sunday shift and was scheduled to be off work around mid-morning, so Souji had decided it would be nice to meet up afterwards for a picnic brunch.

Yosuke had laughed at the pretentiousness of the word ‘brunch’ at first, but he had no real objections and was looking forward to Souji’s food, and more importantly, uninterrupted time with his boyfriend. 

Since they’d started dating, they had scoured the town for places where they could have a bit of privacy (which was hard to get at their respective houses), and they’d found a few places in Inaba that they could call their own. One of their favorites was a ways off the beaten path—a small, overgrown field that, while seemingly untouched prior to their arrival, seemed to be almost purposefully carved out in the middle of a wooded area. It was nicely shaded by old, towering trees and dotted with clusters of white wildflowers, and sometimes Souji liked to think that it had been put there specifically for him and Yosuke to find. 

Souji had gotten up extremely early that morning to prepare an array of special dishes that he hadn’t been able to spoil Yosuke with yet, and then he arrived at their meetup location early, eager for their time together. 

The tiredness was finally starting to catch up to him though, and as he laid out a blanket in the shade of a particularly large tree, he found himself hoping that Yosuke, after a tiring shift and filling up on his food, would want to take a nap with him. 

Something about simply resting beside Yosuke—letting all the weariness [from school and jobs and social obligations and the investigation] seep from his bones while lying next to the person he loved—set his heart at ease more than anything else ever had. He also loved the fact that Yosuke was so comfortable with their closeness and that they had reached a point where just being in each other’s presence, without having to do much of anything, was enough. It felt so right and so, so special. 

As soon as Souji set his almost comically large picnic basket down, his phone started ringing, and he flipped it open immediately when he saw it was Yosuke calling. 

“Hey!” Souji said, sounding overly excited even in his own ears. 

“Hey, Partner,” Yosuke said hesitantly, and something about his tone made Souji’s breath catch.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Heh, you can already tell, huh?” Yosuke said, his voice breaking up a little since Souji only had one bar of service here. “I really hate to do this to you, like _really_ hate it, but one of our part-timers had to go home sick, so I have to cover the end of his shift.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Souji breathed, relieved it wasn’t something worse. “Can you still come afterwards?” 

“I mean, I could, but I don’t want you to have to wait for me. You made food, right? I don’t want it to go bad. You could go home and share it with Nanako and Dojima.” 

“You know I’m not actually gonna do that, right?”

Yosuke sighed, but it sounded like a happy sigh. “Yeah, I know.”

“Besides, I already made food for them that I left in the fridge. Don’t worry, all this stuff will keep until you get here.”

“You sure?” 

“You know I’m always prepared. I’ve got insulated food containers and cold packs and my industrial-grade thermos, and honestly it would probably be good for another day or two—”

“Haha, okay, I get it, Partner. I definitely won’t take _that_ long, but I just want you to know that it’s gonna end up being more like lunch than brunch.”

“I’ll wait for you forever.” 

Yosuke snorted. 

“Okay, well I gotta go now, but I’ll text you when I’m on my way,” Yosuke said, and then he paused before whispering, “Love you.”

Souji figured the pause was to check if there were any customers or coworkers nearby, and he smiled at the mental image of Yosuke whispering he loved him in the middle of a crowded store. 

Souji, however, was completely alone with no one around to overhear, so he yelled shamelessly, “I LOVE YOU TOO!” 

“Partner!” Yosuke hissed. “I think you just broke my eardrum! Shit, I think a customer heard that, gotta go, bye!”

Souji laughed to himself as Yosuke hung up; he always enjoyed a healthy dose of mischief, but it also just felt nice to yell that to the heavens. 

Still chuckling at the thought of Yosuke’s face as he scrambled to hide his phone in his Junes apron, Souji sat down on the blanket and looked through his basket, making sure all the dishes were still secure in their containers. Satisfied that everything would indeed be fine until whenever Yosuke got there, Souji closed the basket and laid back on the blanket, basking in the shade of the tree. 

Souji rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, letting the warmth around him soak into his skin. He wasn’t bothered by having to wait for Yosuke; rather he felt something more like gratitude—it was a privilege and a thrill, really, to be waiting somewhere so beautiful on someone he loved so profoundly. 

It was with those feelings at the forefront of his heart that Souji eventually drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

Some time later, he was awoken by a warm body pressing up against his back and the sound of munching near his ear. 

“Yosuke,” Souji hummed blearily, slowly opening his eyes and squinting against the midday sunlight. 

“Hey, Par’ner,” Yosuke said through a mouthful of food. 

“What are you eating?” Souji asked, looking over his shoulder at Yosuke. 

“Rice ball,” Yosuke said, lifting his head to get a better look at Souji’s face and holding up the half-eaten rice ball for Souji to see.

“You couldn’t wait for me?”

“Nope,” Yosuke said, shaking his head and taking another bite. “Starving.”

“And after I waited all this time for you…” Souji teased. “You’re getting rice kernels on my neck.”

“Oops, sorry. One sec,” Yosuke said, quickly finishing off his rice ball. Then he made a whirring noise with his mouth that sounded somewhat like a vacuum and bent to suck the fallen rice off Souji’s neck. 

“Y-Yosuke!” Souji cried, laughing involuntarily as Yosuke’s mouth tickled his skin.

“Stop movin’!” Yosuke laughed against Souji’s neck, pushing Souji’s shoulder down as he tried to vacuum up the last few kernels. 

When that didn’t work, he resorted to using his tongue, and Souji had to try his damnedest to not let his laughter transform into a whine. He was also attempting to keep his squirming to a minimum, which was more challenging than he ever would have imagined. 

“All clean,” Yosuke said when he was done, sounding amused as he wrapped an arm around Souji and pulled him firmly against himself. 

“You don’t want to eat more?” Souji asked, gathering his composure enough to look over his shoulder at Yosuke again.

“I do, but I want this first,” Yosuke said, intertwining one of his legs with Souji’s. “So _tired._ And you looked so comfortable here…”

Souji laid his head back down, and Yosuke immediately pressed his face into the back of his hair. 

“You don’t mind, do you?” Yosuke asked, his breaths already growing longer and deeper as he started to doze off.

“Not at all,” Souji replied, happily enveloping Yosuke’s hand in his own and settling into the new layer of warmth Yosuke provided.

Souji could tell when Yosuke had fallen asleep by his breathing, and that was when he quietly said, “You didn’t know it, but this is exactly what I wanted. _You_ are exactly what I want.” 

And with that off his chest, Souji closed his eyes once more, following Yosuke into the realm of sleep.


	9. Psithurism (The Sound of Fall)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This prompt fill is for @skilde! Thanks for the request! 
> 
> **Psithurism** : the sound of wind rustling leaves

It was a brisk fall afternoon, and the sky was a bright mix of greys. Yosuke and Souji walked slowly up the path to the overlook, not saying much as each new gust of wind made fire-colored leaves fall around them like rain. It had drizzled on and off for most of the day, making the leaves on the ground damp enough that they just barely crunched as the two boys walked over them. 

The sharp chill in the air made Yosuke shiver, and he realized he should have worn a jacket over his sweater. He looked at Souji, who of course was properly dressed with a thick jacket and scarf. Souji didn’t seem to notice Yosuke’s gaze since he was too busy looking up toward the sky, so Yosuke took advantage, admiring his upturned profile. 

Yosuke had only recently realized exactly what his feelings for Souji were, which had made things awkward on his end—he knew how he felt but not what to do about it, and he couldn’t decide on a course of action to save his life. He’d become much quieter around Souji since he had actually started to think before speaking. He didn’t want to suddenly let the cat out of the bag, because once it was out, there was no putting it back in, and then it could run around and cause all sorts of chaos (though if Yosuke was sticking with the metaphor, Souji would probably just tame the cat and have it purring in his lap in a matter of minutes).

Souji hadn’t seemed to notice the difference in Yosuke’s behavior, or if he had, he didn’t seem to mind it. He just always appeared to be content when he was by Yosuke’s side, regardless.

Souji was so fixated on whatever he was looking at that he bumped into Yosuke a few times, which was yet another thing he seemed to not notice. 

Yosuke, however, very much noticed, and it made his heart pound uncomfortably. 

“Do you hear that?” Souji suddenly asked, and Yosuke sucked in a breath and held it, not having expected Souji to be able to hear his heartbeat.

 _Shut up, stupid heart,_ Yosuke thought, taking low, slow breaths but feeling like it only made his heart pound harder. 

When Yosuke didn’t say anything, Souji took hold of Yosuke’s elbow and brought them both to a stop. 

“Listen,” Souji said, still looking up. 

Realizing that Souji wasn’t actually referring to his heartbeat (which was even louder now that Souji was touching him), Yosuke followed his gaze to the branches high above their heads. 

“Uh, what am I listening for?” Yosuke asked. 

“Something you don’t hear in the city,” Souji said vaguely, his grip sliding down from Yosuke’s elbow to his forearm as he closed his eyes. 

Yosuke followed suit, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to hear something besides the racket inside his chest. 

It took a few moments, but finally Yosuke heard what Souji was trying to bring to his attention: the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees. 

Souji was right; this wasn’t something you could hear in the city. Even in the parks that had trees, the sound wasn’t to this scale. Here they were surrounded by acres and acres of mature trees at varying elevations, and it almost sounded like waves on the ocean, except more crisp, more fragmented, more all-encompassing… 

Yosuke found himself smiling as he listened to the shifts in the wind, and finally his heart calmed down. 

He felt like he’d be content to stay like this forever, but when he felt Souji’s focus shift to him, he had to open his eyes.

Souji looked slightly dazed, and there was a dusting of pink across his cheeks and nose that wasn’t from the cold. 

Yosuke couldn’t think of a single thing to say, but he hoped he wasn’t misinterpreting the soft look on Souji’s face, because it seemed to mirror those feelings that Yosuke had been trying to keep to himself. 

Souji was silent too, but his hand tentatively slid from Yosuke’s forearm into his palm, and that said more than Yosuke could have ever hoped to articulate. 

Carefully watching his Partner’s face, Yosuke immediately curled his fingers around Souji’s. 

Souji granted him a shy, near-angelic smile and asked, “You, um, can’t hear that, can you?” 

“The wind?”

“No, my heartbeat. It’s going kinda crazy,” Souji admitted with a short laugh. 

Yosuke shook his head, once again not knowing what to say, but he impulsively tugged on Souji’s hand so they could keep walking. He didn’t want _this_ moment to just stand still in time, after all; he wanted it to keep going, to move forward. 

It felt nice to walk like that together, to be a small part of the surrounding wash of sound.

Yosuke felt a certain energy rise up in him—the energy of being alert and alive and… 

“…in love,” Yosuke said quietly. 

“What did you say?” Souji asked.

“I’ll explain when we get to the overlook,” Yosuke promised, walking with a bounce in his step now that he had finally decided on a course of action. 


	10. Magic & the Magician

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this over a month ago and randomly decided to finish it now, so here we are.

Yosuke stared unabashedly at Souji, admiring the way the tea lights in the middle of the table lit his face. Souji was still eating even though Yosuke had long since finished his own meal. Souji was more of a savorer than Yosuke, but Yosuke never minded waiting for Souji to take his time to enjoy his food; they had grown used to this routine over time. 

Everything Souji did was endearing to Yosuke, from the way he cut his dessert into equal portions before eating any of it, to how focused he looked on each bite as if scoring it against every other bite with an extensive rubric, to how he pretended to not notice Yosuke staring at him but occasionally smirked anyways at the attention. 

When Souji finally finished, they had nothing to do but sip at their drinks and wait for the check, so Souji sat back and returned Yosuke’s stare. 

“How was everything?” Yosuke asked. 

He’d picked this restaurant because it was classy and he thought Souji would like it, but he didn’t really need to ask if Souji enjoyed the meal since he could already tell that he very much had. 

“Delicious,” Souji said, sporting his satisfied, food-specific little smile that Yosuke found particularly adorable. 

“I don’t get it,” Yosuke sighed, putting his elbow on the table and propping up the side of his face with his hand, which would have only made his fond staring even more obvious to any onlookers. 

“Don’t get what?” 

“When we met back in high school, I was such an idiot. How did you get me to go from ragingly in denial to being overwhelmed by how much I love you every five seconds? You must be magic or something.”

Yosuke was sure it was his eyes playing tricks on him, but he could have sworn the glow from the tea lights got brighter when Souji gave another one of his specific little smiles—the one for whenever Yosuke said something sappy (which Souji loved more than most things in the world). 

Souji replied, “If I’m magic, then you’re the magician. We need each other.”

Yosuke should have seen such a perfectly sappy response coming. It was completely genuine though, and far from untrue; they did need each other. Yosuke never would have become who he was today without Souji. And Souji needed Yosuke too, though it took Yosuke quite some time to realize and accept that. Souji needed Yosuke’s warmth and optimism and adoration; he needed to be loved fully, and Yosuke could provide that—was more than happy to provide that. 

“I do need you. I love needing you. I love you,” Yosuke said, a string of words his former self never would have been able to put together.

“You’ve grown so much since we met. I’m really proud of you,” Souji said, reaching across the table with an open hand, and Yosuke couldn’t get his fingers intertwined with Souji’s fast enough. 

“I wanna keep making you proud, for the rest of my life,” Yosuke said with determination, firmly squeezing Souji’s hand. “I wanna be with you for the rest of my life.” 

“That’s why we got married, silly,” Souji said, tapping the ring on Yosuke’s finger but smiling shyly all the same, as if Yosuke had just proposed for the first time. 

“I know. I just want you to know I still want it.”

“Thank you,” Souji said, his voice quavering ever-so-slightly. “That makes me really happy. I want it too.”

“I’m _so_ glad I’m not who I was when we met.”

“You’re still him,” Souji said, brushing his thumb over some old scars on Yosuke’s knuckles that he’d earned in the TV World. “You’re just the better version of him. I loved him. I love you.” 

Yosuke blushed and grinned happily. “Well, you already started out perfect, so there’s no more improving for you. But hey, maybe I’ll catch up to you! That’s it—that’s my plan for the rest of my life. Your perfection will rub off on me, and gradually, eventually, when I’m old enough to retire, I’ll catch up to you!”

Souji rolled his eyes playfully. “How many times do I have to remind you that we’re even?” 

“Haha, okay, sorry, you’re right,” Yosuke conceded. “I’m perfect too.” 

“That’s more like it,” Souji said, pleased to hear it. “Now where the _hell_ is the check?”

“Whoa, what’s with the sudden mood change?”

With a completely straight face, Souji said, “It’s our anniversary night, and I intend to bed you. Preferably sooner than later.” 

Yosuke let out a sudden burst of laughter, drawing attention from other tables, but then he quieted down and asked in a high-pitched whisper, “You intend to _bed_ me?!” 

“I _love_ this _man_ and I _need_ the _check,”_ Souji insisted a little too loudly for comfort, bangs swinging wildly as his head swiveled from side to side in search of their waiter. 

“Pfft, Souji, _stop_ it!” Yosuke laughed, tears welling in his eyes as he tried to hold in his laughter, though the more he watched the growing urgency on Souji’s face, the more he was starting to desperately need the check as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter: fluff romance fluff character growth romance fluff… THIRST!!!  
> Oops.


	11. Apricity (Warmth in Winter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was requested by @treya-barton! 
> 
> **Apricity** : the warmth of the sun in the winter

Souji was sitting listlessly at the bus stop with the bottom half of his face buried in a thick scarf and his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest. The metal bench was freezing cold beneath him, but he didn’t really have the energy to stand while he waited; energy was growing more and more scarce for him as the winter stretched on. 

It was a bleak Sunday afternoon, and he needed to pick up groceries for the week. The closest Junes was a good distance away by bus, but he couldn’t find it in himself to shop anywhere else nowadays. The layout was similar to the one in Inaba, and Souji grasped at any feeling of familiarity he could get—anything that could bring him back to those distant days in Inaba, trials and all, with the people he loved the most.

 _I hate winter,_ Souji thought miserably. _I hate the cold._

Those things weren’t really true; Souji typically didn’t mind winter any more than the other seasons, and if he was in Inaba right now (even though winter was much colder there than here in the city), he would be enjoying winter very much. He’d be building snowmen with Nanako, making hot meals to share with all his appreciative friends, cuddling under the kotatsu with Yosuke… 

_I hate the city,_ Souji thought, but that wasn’t true either; his heart was just somewhere else. 

He could feel himself growing increasingly grumpy (though if he was being honest with himself, ‘grumpy’ didn’t quite cover it—it was more like downcast, despondent, _depressed_ …) the longer he was away from his home away from home, and more importantly, his Yosuke. 

_I hate everything._

They hadn’t seen each other for months now, and while all of their plans for after high school revolved around each other, the time in between was killing him. 

_How am I supposed to_ exist _without my Partner?_ Souji thought once again, feeling his eyes growing watery. 

He squeezed his eyes shut and stubbornly pushed those emotions down, not wanting to end up with frozen eyeballs and salty icicles hanging from his face. 

The bus was running late now, and the pressing cold was sapping every last bit of energy from him. 

When he fell asleep, like usual, he dreamed of Yosuke. 

“I missed you, Partner,” Yosuke said (as he often did), before climbing onto Souji’s lap.

“I missed you too.”

Yosuke nodded gravely, as if in that moment he could fully understand the profundity of Souji’s sadness at being apart. However, as soon as Yosuke touched his lips to Souji’s, all of that sadness seemed to dissipate, as if Yosuke was absorbing it somehow.

All of Yosuke’s movements and touches were so _gentle_ and _romantic,_ and despite a certain urgency within him, Souji allowed Yosuke to set a slow, tender pace, reveling in the fact that they could take their time now. 

As they continued to kiss, Souji felt a distinct warmth against his cheeks. 

_I thought I was over my blushing phase?_ Souji thought to himself, remembering the beginning of their romantic relationship when he couldn’t keep himself from blushing at any physical contact with Yosuke, especially kissing. 

Nowadays, the heat didn’t go so much to his cheeks as it did… other places, but the heat that was currently on his cheeks felt so _real_ compared to the feeling of Yosuke caressing him, kissing him… 

Souji bolted awake, quickly snapping back to the reality of the cold bus stop (and the highly disappointing lack of Yosuke). 

That heat across his cheeks didn’t go away though, and when he looked up to the sky, he saw there had been a break in the clouds. Unexpectedly warm rays of sunshine shot through, creating a stark contrast to the surrounding cold as they soaked into Souji’s skin. The sensation was almost like the ghost of Yosuke’s touch from his dream, winding its way into reality. 

Souji smiled for the first time in too long, and then he quickly took out his phone to call Yosuke. 

Before, he might have hesitated to call out of nowhere, but recently Yosuke had specifically told him: “Call me whenever, okay? Even if it’s just because you’re bored, or I’m on your mind, or you just want to hear me say I love you.” 

Souji, of course, didn’t call _every_ time Yosuke was on his mind (because then he would never stop calling), but he did feel like less and less of a bother every time Yosuke answered enthusiastically and thanked him for calling. 

“Hey, Sweetie!” Yosuke greeted excitedly, and Souji didn’t think he would ever get tired of hearing that pet name (that he _may_ have goaded Yosuke into using regularly). “I’m so glad you called!”

Souji chuckled. “Why’s that?” 

“I’m outside and it’s so freakin’ _cold,_ but just hearing your voice makes me feel warmer, you know?” 

As the unexpected warmth from the sun and the warmth from Yosuke intermingled and spread through him, Souji replied, “I know.” 

Souji then requested, “Tell me you love me?” 

Yosuke immediately replied, “I love you!” 

And with those words, Souji became completely immune to the cold, and the last bits of bitterness in his heart burned away. 

Souji breathed, “Thank you, Yosuke.”

“Any time, Partner! Now hurry up and tell me you love me too!” 

Souji shook his head and laughed. “If I have you, I don’t hate winter. I don’t hate the cold, and I don’t hate the city. I don’t hate anything. I just… love you.”

“Aw, cute,” Yosuke said happily. “I mean, I don’t really know what you’re talking about… but hey, it sounds like I’m a keeper!” 

Warmed through even more by the thought of keeping Yosuke forever, Souji said with certainty, “Yes, yes you are.”


	12. Selcouth (Spider Yosk)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requested by @stardustcrow! 
> 
> **Selcouth** : unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet wonderful

“I wanna push you!” Yosuke yelled breathlessly, jogging behind Souji’s swing and grabbing the two metal chains. 

“Wait.” 

“You don’t want me to?” Yosuke asked disappointedly.

“I do, but first…” Souji said, tilting his head all the way back so the top of it rested against Yosuke’s stomach. “Spider-Man kiss?” 

Yosuke broke into a helpless grin and lowered his face a few inches, leaving enough space between the two of them to tease Souji.

“Y’know, I’m not sure this counts as a Spider-Man kiss. If you want, I could probably climb to the top of the swingset and hang down…”

“Yosuke,” Souji whined, sitting up taller and straining his neck to try and reach Yosuke’s face. _“Please.”_

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to beg!” Yosuke laughed, cradling Souji’s face in his palms and bending down to kiss him. 

Yosuke hadn’t thought kissing upside-down would make such a difference, but it was strangely thrilling. Souji must have agreed, because his lips quickly and easily parted under Yosuke’s, boldly asking for more in a way he typically didn’t. 

Yosuke delivered, of course, or he did until he couldn’t hold in his laughter at Souji’s enthusiasm anymore. 

While Yosuke tried to suppress his chuckles, Souji appeared to be on another planet, and Yosuke delighted in the moony look in Souji’s eyes. 

“You like that, huh, Partner?” Yosuke asked with a wink, smoothing Souji’s hair back into place. “That settles it; we have to go full Spider-Man on this.” 

“Full Spider-Man?” Souji asked, but he didn’t seem to care too much about an answer as he pinched the front of Yosuke’s shirt and tried to coax him back down to himself. 

“Yeah, just gimme a sec!” Yosuke exclaimed, pulling away from Souji’s grasp. Then he stepped onto the swing next to Souji’s and grabbed the top beam to pull himself up. 

“Wait, you’re serious?” Souji asked, quickly jumping up to stand under Yosuke.

“Yeah! Anything for you!” Yosuke grunted, finding it a little awkward to hoist himself up. “Hey, can you grab my legs and like, lift them?” 

It was a struggle, but they finally got Yosuke into a sitting position on the top bar. 

“All right, now I just need to kinda… scooch back and hang down!” 

“Yosuke, you don’t have to…”

“Here, I’ll just start going backwards. Catch me, okay?”

“This is dangerous.”

“Haha, yep! Here I come!” 

Not giving Souji a chance to back out (they’d already come so far, and Yosuke was honestly too curious at this point to stop), Yosuke started to lie back, and Souji dutifully caught his back with both hands. 

“Now pull!” Yosuke directed, and Souji made sure to support Yosuke’s weight as he carefully hooked him into position. 

Yosuke exclaimed, “We did it! Not so bad, right?” 

After Souji cautiously let go, Yosuke’s shirt slid up (or down, he supposed). 

“Crap, this must be why Spider-Man wears a full-body suit,” Yosuke said, trying and failing repeatedly to tug his shirt back down (or up). 

Moving to stand in front of Yosuke, Souji said, “The height’s not quite right.”

Yosuke looked up to see Souji staring at his exposed stomach, which was at his eye level. 

“Heh, guess not!” Yosuke said, still tugging frantically at his shirt until Souji stilled his hands, pulling them away so that Yosuke’s shirt rose (fell), bunching up around his chest. 

Souji had a weird gleam in his eye, and Yosuke swallowed hard, realizing he had put himself in a very compromising position; he was not in control of this situation at all. 

Souji leaned forward and pressed a long kiss to the middle of Yosuke’s stomach. 

Yosuke sucked in a sharp breath and cried, “Souji! N-not there!” 

Souji chuckled as he pulled away before kneeling on the ground, which put their faces at a properly kissable level. 

Yosuke pleaded, “Hurry, kiss me!” 

“Impatient, hm?” Souji hummed, taking Yosuke’s face in his hands. 

“Uh, yeah! This metal bar is digging into my legs, and all the blood is going to my head! Hurry up!” Yosuke demanded, grabbing onto Souji so his arms weren’t just dangling. 

Souji obeyed, forcefully pressing his mouth into Yosuke’s, and Yosuke immediately felt like this was the most uncomfortable, most magical moment of his life. 

Having to tilt his head to avoid Souji’s chin rather than his nose; having to fight to keep his body tense so he wouldn’t fall even though Souji’s kisses were making him weak; being able to run the top of his tongue along the top of Souji’s—all of it was so _strange_ and _fascinating._

Yosuke just might have gotten addicted if it weren’t for the element of potential bodily harm. 

“Partner,” Yosuke panted, getting dizzy. “I love you, and I love this, but you’ve gotta help me down.”

With no small amount of effort, they safely maneuvered Yosuke off the swingset and onto the ground. His leg muscles were completely spent, so he just laid there on his back (partially) regretting his choices. 

“Sorry, Partner. Looks like I’m no Spider-Man after all. I tried, though.”

Souji shook his head. “You’re my hero.”

Yosuke smiled widely at the unexpected praise, while Souji laid on his stomach and poised himself above Yosuke’s head, apparently wanting to continue with the upside-down kissing. 

“More, please,” he requested. 

Yosuke laughed up at him. “Haven’t had enough yet?” 

“Never.”

“So you really like the upside-down thing, huh?” 

“I really do,” Souji said with that moony look in his eyes.

“In that case…” Yosuke said softly, “Hurry and kiss me.” 

Once again, Souji obeyed easily, diving in to continue where they left off, albeit in a safer position that could be sustained for _much_ longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~spider yosk, spider yosk, does whatever a spider yosk does, smooches yu, at the park, he's upside-down and he's stealing hearts~~


	13. Noceur (Missing Midnight)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is pre-relationship, with some hurt/comfort. Requested by @livefreeordie13! 
> 
> **Noceur** : one who stays up late

On his first night back in Tokyo after his whirlwind year in Inaba, Souji stayed up waiting for midnight, staring at the old hand-me-down TV set in his bedroom. 

Nothing happened, of course. The TV didn’t hum to life on its own; no one showed up on the screen; nothing broke the suffocating silence except his own heart’s punctuated pounding. He even reached a hand out to see if it would break through the plane of the dusty screen. It didn’t.

He was relieved in a way, but in another way, he wasn’t. 

He speculated as to why that might be for the next five hours as he tossed and turned in bed, alternating between staring at the ceiling, the walls, and the pictures of his friends from Inaba that lived on his phone. 

The vague answer he eventually came up with was that he wanted the impossible; everything his heart desired the most was beyond his reach: he wanted to be back in Inaba; he wanted to rewind time and relive the past year (minus all the horrible parts, of course); and he wanted to have his Partner by his side.

A week of this nightly torture—waiting for a Midnight Channel that wasn’t going to appear and then overthinking every aspect of his past and future for hours and hours while miserably waiting for fitful sleep to come—went by. He had never felt more exhausted, not even after his biggest battles in the TV World.

He didn’t want to be needy, but on night number eight, he finally broke down and called Yosuke.

“I don’t really know why I do it,” Souji said after explaining his fixation on waiting for the Midnight Channel. 

“Maybe you’re hoping your soulmate will pop up?” Yosuke joked. “If you’re lonely, I’m sure there’s plenty of girls in the city who would love to help you out with that!” 

Souji grimaced, starting to regret having called Yosuke. 

He loved Yosuke, of course, but the fact that he loved him was one of the problems. He loved him a _lot,_ probably too much.

Souji had always been bothered by Yosuke’s comments about Souji being some sort of chick magnet. He still couldn’t figure out why so many girls in Inaba had been interested in him, and the interest had unfortunately never been mutual, which led to a lot of guilt and awkwardness on his part. 

But back then he loved Yosuke, and only Yosuke. 

Well, that was still the case, which is why a significant portion of his sleepless nights was dedicated to feeling hopeless about _that_ whole situation. His best friend, who apparently thought Souji should alleviate his loneliness with any city girl who would bat his eyelashes at him, loved him as his Partner but was never going to love him back romantically. And that was the worst kind of loneliness—he missed Yosuke on so many levels it was physically painful. He missed his physical presence by his side; he missed their routine that they’d grown so accustomed to; he missed a shared future he had imagined but that they would never actually have… 

“I promise I’m not waiting for my soulmate to appear,” Souji said dryly. 

“Hey, there’s no shame in wanting that! It’s kinda nice to think there’s somebody out there just for you…”

Souji pulled the phone away from his face for a moment to heave a heavy sigh; this conversation was going to make him sick to his stomach. 

Bringing the receiver back to his mouth, Souji attempted to keep things light: “The only person who’s shown up on the screen is my own reflection, and I sincerely hope I’m not my own soulmate.”

“Well, personas are like souls, and you have multiple… and hey, aren’t your Oberon guy and that Titania chick married? Maybe you _are_ your own soulmate!” 

“Please, Yosuke, no…” Souji groaned. “Oh, and by the way, their marriage seems shaky at best, so that makes it even worse.” 

“I’m just kidding, man! You’re not your own soulmate.” 

“Well, now I’m not sure,” Souji said dismally, wanting to bury his face in his pillow. 

“Chin up, Partner. Anyone would be lucky to have you as a soulmate.” 

Souji scoffed, noting that the exhaustion was causing his normally rock-solid filter to slip. “You _really_ think so, Yosuke?”

“Of course! Yosuke Hanamura’s partner could never be less than the best!” Yosuke stated proudly. 

Souji gritted his teeth, somehow filled with both annoyance and affection. 

After a too-short moment of contemplation, Souji blurted out: “I think I know why my soulmate’s not showing up on the TV.” 

“Uh, because it hasn’t rained, and you’re not in Inaba, and that whole thing was just a rumor to begin with?” 

Souji felt a distinct wave of anguish rise up in him, and while he was hoping for something more articulate, all he ended up whining out was, _“Yosuke…”_

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t _want_ some soulmate to show up,” Souji said frustratedly. He wanted _Yosuke_ to be his soulmate, and if soulmates didn’t exist, _he still wanted Yosuke._ “I want… Damn it. When you said anyone would be lucky to have me, I wanted that to include _you!_ I wish… I wish that included you.” 

_Fuck,_ Souji thought. _What the hell did I just do? Maybe he won’t get it. Of course he won’t get it. But just in case, how should I play it off—_

“It did. It… it does.” 

“What?” Souji asked as his mind tripped over itself and its plans to divert Yosuke’s attention from his accidental confession.

“It… included me,” Yosuke said softly, but then he suddenly declared, “E-especially me!” 

If Souji’s mind had tripped over itself before, it was now tumbling down a long staircase, picking up speed and headed for a disastrous crash landing. 

Souji was about to ask for clarification, but then Yosuke started yelling a _series_ of clarifications about how he missed Souji _so_ much and how he had been miserable ever since he left town and how he just wanted to _be_ with him… 

Then Yosuke started hiccuping and _crying,_ and Souji just about lost it, because _how dare_ anything make his Partner cry, but also _wow_ because _that_ wasn’t a rational thought… 

Before, Souji had very much desired a night of restful sleep, but this time when he didn’t get it, he didn’t mind one bit. 

He and Yosuke stayed up all night talking to each other, clarifying things and confessing things, crying and laughing on and off, wistfully reminiscing and frantically trying to figure out when they could fit in a visit to see each other asap, so they could say these things in person and so they could hug each other so tightly they would break each other’s bones and so they could kiss the stupid smirks off each other’s stupid faces… 

As the sun rose and Souji batted at his curtains to keep the offending sunlight out, the two of them started their long goodbyes. 

Then Yosuke suddenly said, “Hey, before you go… sometimes I wait for the Midnight Channel too. I’m scared something’s gonna pop up again, but I’m even more scared of missing something and not saving somebody who needs to be saved. I’m guessing that’s part of why you do it too. But I definitely wasn’t watching and waiting for my soulmate to appear. I didn’t need to, because I already had you.” 

Souji had thought he’d run out of tears by now, but here they were again, hot and trickling from the corners of his eyes. 

“Is it too soon to say I love you?” 

Yosuke laughed in delight, and then he was hiccuping again. 

“No. I… I’ve been wanting to hear that… for a long time.”

“I love you, Yosuke.”

“Partner… I love you too.”

After they finally hung up, with solid plans for Yosuke to shirk all else the following weekend and come to the city, Souji had the best sleep of his life, paired with dreams of Yosuke that were so pleasant he couldn’t have written them himself. 

He didn’t wake up again until that afternoon when Yosuke called to tell him he’d bought his train ticket and that he couldn’t wait to see him and that he hadn’t slept a wink because he was so excited and because his persona had been freaking out all day and that he loved Souji, more than anything. 


	14. Attention

Yosuke sat on the couch with his handheld clutched tightly in both hands, completely immersed in his new video game. The graphics, story, and gameplay were completely living up to the pre-release hype, which was good since he had literally been waiting on this sequel for years. The original game had come out when he was a first year in high school, but the sequel’s release date had been delayed so many times he’d almost given up hope of it ever being completed. But now that the game was in his hands, he had been doing little else all weekend (aside from the occasional necessities like eating and sleeping).

It was now late Sunday night, and while he’d noticed that Souji had seemed somewhat restless the last couple days, his devoted attention to his game stopped him from investigating. 

While Yosuke’s playable character ran toward what appeared to be the next save point, Souji entered the living room and plopped onto the floor near Yosuke’s feet. 

“You tired, bud?” Yosuke asked, only sparing Souji a glance as his character grappled with an enemy he almost hadn’t noticed sneaking up on him. 

“Yeah,” Souji said, turning to stare up at Yosuke. 

Yosuke was just about to pause the game after taking down the one enemy, but then about twenty more enemies appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Yosuke’s character nimbly ducked in and out of cover, attempting to take the majority of the newcomers out from a distance with his assault rifle. 

The whole time Yosuke was fighting his way through the barrage of enemies, Souji didn’t avert his gaze at all, staring intently at Yosuke’s face. 

With his attention split between the game and his boyfriend’s odd behavior, Yosuke asked, “Uh, did you need something?” 

“Attention,” Souji said bluntly, plopping his head on top of Yosuke’s knee. 

“Seriously?” Yosuke asked, trying not to laugh as he cleared the last enemy and made another sprint toward the save point. “Attention?”

“Please.”

Yosuke’s gaze flicked between Souji’s face and his game (he could _see_ the save point ahead, and it had been twenty minutes since the last one) several times, but then Souji lightly batted at Yosuke’s handheld, nearly knocking it from his grip. 

“Okay, okay,” Yosuke laughed. 

He put the handheld in standby mode, hoping the battery wouldn’t die by the time he got back to it so he wouldn’t have to redo that whole section again. Though if he did lose his progress, he could get through the section a lot faster a second time, and it was worth it for how happy Souji seemed as Yosuke finally set the handheld down. 

“Play with my hair?” Souji requested, angling his body so Yosuke could have easy access.

“All right,” Yosuke agreed, realizing how neglected Souji must have been feeling. 

He gently raked his fingers through Souji’s hair in long strokes at first, and then he transitioned into scratching in light circles like he knew Souji liked. 

Souji closed his eyes, looking perfectly content even when he started to nod off. 

“You falling asleep?”

“No,” Souji lied, his eyes still closed as he turned his face into Yosuke’s palm and kissed it a couple times. 

“Ha, okay,” Yosuke said fondly. “You know you can come up here on the couch, right?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t wanna.”

“But why?”

“No.”

Yosuke sighed and slid off the couch onto the ground, and Souji seemed to wake up for a moment, his eyes going wide before he practically pounced on Yosuke. 

“I love you,” Souji said, wrapping his arms around Yosuke’s torso and tucking his head against his chest. 

“Haha, thanks,” Yosuke replied as Souji’s sleepy warmth seeped into his skin.

More adamantly this time, Souji repeated, “I _love_ you.”

“I know, I know,” Yosuke said, rubbing his hand up and down Souji’s arm. 

Souji grumbled something incoherent and lifted his head to look Yosuke in the eyes. 

“Love me back,” he demanded. 

Yosuke cocked an eyebrow at his ridiculous Partner. “You know I love you all the time, right? It’s like, a permanent, unconditional state of being. You don’t have to ask me to love you back.” 

Souji was still frowning up at him though, dangerously close to a pout. 

Yosuke finally obliged and said, “I love you too.” 

Souji replied happily, “I love you too also.” 

Yosuke laughed, lifting a hand to stroke Souji’s cheek and then leaning down to kiss his lips. 

When they separated, Souji sighed dreamily and buried his face against Yosuke’s neck, squeezing him tighter in his arms. 

“You’re so weird,” Yosuke breathed, pressing a kiss to Souji’s hair. 

A few minutes after Souji fell asleep, Yosuke cautiously reached for his handheld, wondering if he could manage to play one-handed or if he could somehow pry his other arm away from Souji. 

As soon as the screen blinked on and the too-loud video game music started up, Souji knocked Yosuke’s hand with the back of his, sending the game system tumbling (the thankfully short distance) to the floor. 

“Okay, fine,” Yosuke muttered. “If you’re gonna sleep, you know we can just go to bed, right?” 

“No.” 

“Why not?” Yosuke asked, but he already knew the answer. 

“Don’t wanna.” 

“Okay, okay,” Yosuke said, quickly powering down his handheld and then pulling Souji in closer so they could sleep there on the floor like a couple of weirdos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~I don't wanna work on my wips.~~
> 
> This was inspired by my dog. Thanks, little buddy.


	15. Thank You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought of this story while I was about to take my traditional Thanksgiving afternoon nap, and as I faded out of consciousness I was like, "Noooo, now I'll have to write it when I wake up before Thanksgiving goes awaaaay~" But yeah, happy belated Thanksgiving!

The Investigation Team sat around a small rectangular table picking at their last bits of food and sipping at their drinks. They had gone to Okina to see a movie and eat out together, taking a break from studying before what was sure to be a grueling week of exams. 

“Oh hey,” Rise said, looking at her phone. “Did you guys know today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.?” 

Kanji asked, “Ain’t that the holiday where they stuff themselves ‘til they can’t fit in their pants anymore?” 

“A day just for eating a ton of food?” Chie asked. “Now _that’s_ a holiday I can get behind!” 

“I believe it is also a day for giving thanks,” Yukiko said. “Hence the name.”

“Oh, I get it!” Teddie declared. “Thanks-giving! Giving thanks! I think all holidays should be named like that. Like, Christmas is for couples, right? So it should be called Smooch-giving!”

“Teddie, no…” Yosuke started, but it was too late; Teddie was already skipping off into Fantasy Land. 

Directing his attention to the nearest girl, who just so happened to be Naoto, Teddie proposed, “What do ya say, Nao-cakes? Would you like to celebrate Smooch-giving with me?” 

He batted his eyelashes at her and pursed his lips, and while Kanji was about to throw a fit on the other side of the table, Naoto barely reacted at all. 

“No, I would not. It is not currently Christmas, and I would not like to participate in such a way with you now, on that day, or ever.” 

“Gragh!” Teddie wailed, somehow falling out of his seat and into a bawling heap on the floor. “You’re so mean, Nao-cakes! Wahhhh!” 

“C’mon, Ted, stop that,” Yosuke said gently, nudging Teddie’s quivering form with the toe of his sneaker. Teddie was being inappropriate, of course, but Yosuke couldn’t help feeling a _little_ bad for the guy. “Get up. People are starting to stare.” 

While Teddie sniveled and picked himself up off the ground, Souji seemed to be off in his own world, staring into the distance. 

“Thanksgiving, huh?” he mused quietly before abruptly looking at everyone and stating, “I’m thankful for all of you.” 

“Awww, Senpai!” 

“We’re thankful for you too!”

“I love you, Sensei!” 

Not finished yet, Souji folded his hands in his lap and stared at them as he said, “It’s hard to believe that this time last year, you were all strangers. Everything is so different now. I never would have imagined I would find even one person I cared about so much, let alone a whole group of people. You’re all so special to me. Honestly, sometimes you all can be really annoying…”

“Eep!” Teddie cried, not having been prepared for his Sensei’s bluntness.

“I think he’s talking about you,” Chie whispered to Kanji, elbowing him. 

“Me?! You’re the annoyin’ one!” Kanji yelled back. 

“Pfft,” Yukiko chuckled, barely holding it in. 

Completely unfazed, Souji continued, “…but then I worry that you might think _I’m_ annoying, like too annoying to even deal with, and I wonder why you even want to be around me. But underneath all that, I know that you’re good people, and we’re friends, and we love each other, at our worst and at our best. I’m… I’m just…”

Everyone else went silent, waiting with bated breath for their leader to finish his sentence. 

Looking up with a small smile and glistening eyes, Souji said, “I’m just so happy. Thank you.”

* * *

On the walk home, Yosuke shyly reached out for Souji’s hand, and Souji immediately latched onto him.

They had started dating shortly after rescuing Naoto from her dungeon, which was a good thing since Souji didn’t know if he would have been able to get through the Nanako ordeal without Yosuke by his side. They hadn’t had much time for romantic things though, so holding hands like this was still a new thing—warm and surprising and exciting.

“So, Partner…” Yosuke said awkwardly before trying to laugh it off. “Hey, that speech you gave back there, you made pretty much everyone cry except like, me and Naoto. Was that what you were going for?” 

“Hm? No…” 

“You sure you didn’t draft all of that beforehand?” 

“I was just saying what I felt.” 

“Haha, I’m just kidding. Of course you didn’t plan it out beforehand, otherwise I’m sure you would have thrown in a bigger, more personal shoutout to your Partner,” Yosuke said with a wink. 

With a blank expression, Souji immediately replied, “I’m sorry.”

“What? No, don’t apologize! I’m still kidding, man!”

“I’m so thankful for you, Yosuke.” 

“Wh-whoa, you don’t have to say it!” Yosuke sputtered, blushing. “I mean, I’m glad and all, but—”

“You’re wrong; I _do_ have to say it,” Souji said, having learned his lesson about sharing his true feelings with the people he cared about. “My life is so much better with you in it. You’re my Partner, and I’m yours; I can’t exist without you now. I’m more thankful for you than anything.” 

“Than… _anything?”_ Yosuke asked thinly, his voice catching with emotion. “Um, heh, I’ve, uh… I’ve always wanted to be that to someone,” he admitted, gripping Souji’s hand as he looked away and sniffled. “I’m glad it’s you.” 

Souji beamed, wishing Yosuke was looking so he could see how happy he made him. 

“I’m glad I said it,” Souji said, feeling lighter somehow now that he had expressed what had been in his heart for Yosuke all along. 

“Me too. Thanks, Partner.”

Souji briefly considered telling Yosuke he loved him (and even more briefly considered kissing him right there on the spot), but he figured he could save that for later. He didn’t want to short out Yosuke’s brain right before exams, after all. 

After exams was fair game though, Souji thought to himself excitedly as he swung their joined hands between them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For my friends, who I am very thankful for.


	16. Permission

Yosuke was chatting animatedly with Chie on his right until he could no longer ignore the feeling of an intense stare on his left. 

It’s not that he wasn’t used to Souji silently staring at him by now; Souji had been doing that since way before they had started dating the previous week. Still, something felt off, and Yosuke slowly turned his head to investigate. 

Yosuke followed Souji’s gaze downward toward their hands, though Souji didn’t appear to notice the movement through his hyperfocus. 

Apparently Yosuke’s hand had accidentally drifted toward Souji’s, and the backs of their hands were just barely resting against each other. That was another thing Yosuke was used to; it wasn’t unusual at all for them to be hovering near each other or for some part of them to be touching—that’s why Yosuke couldn’t figure out why Souji was behaving oddly now. 

Was this kind of contact a no-go in public now that they were dating? Did Yosuke need to pay more attention about accidentally brushing up against his Partner from now on? That was going to be a major hassle, but Yosuke supposed he could try for Souji’s sake… 

“You trying to stare a hole through me, Partner?” Yosuke asked, having made the joke a number of times before when he’d caught Souji staring at his face. 

Souji’s knee jerk reaction was to quickly pull his hand away with a sharp breath and say in the flattest tone he could manage at the moment: “No.” 

“All right, what’s going on?” Yosuke asked, having leveled up quite skillfully in the art of cutting through his Partner’s BS. 

Souji looked pitifully up at Yosuke through his bangs, obviously at war with himself over how exactly to respond. 

“Hey, stop trying to figure out what the right answer is,” Yosuke said a little harshly but at a lower volume so Chie and the others wouldn’t overhear. 

“I, uh…” Souji sputtered like he usually did when Yosuke cut in during his complex social calculations. “I just, it’s just… your hand was… and then I thought… I almost did, but then I didn’t… I didn’t want you to… I didn’t know if you would want…” 

“Just spit it out, man!” 

Wincing in shame, Souji quickly explained, “Your hand touched my hand, and then I suddenly wanted to hold it really badly, but then I didn’t know if you’d like that or want that, so…” 

Yosuke silenced Souji’s nonsense by grabbing his hand, all the while keeping an eye on Souji’s face to see the change in his expression. It was a mixture of surprise, relief, and delight, and Yosuke barely still had it in him to give Souji a hard time about being ridiculous.    


“It’s that simple, Partner,” Yosuke said, trying not to get too distracted by the electricity running through him as he closed his fingers more tightly around Souji’s and stroked his thumb along the side of Souji’s index finger. 

“Sorry,” Souji apologized, seeming to come back to himself as he smiled down at their hands. 

“I’m totally okay with stuff like this, by the way. More than okay with it. It’s you and me, y’know, so we don’t have to be weird about it. If you wanna hold my hand or whatever, just do it. But knowing you, you’d probably be more comfortable asking first, so that’s okay too. But don’t just sit there wanting something from me and not giving me the chance to give it to you, okay? That’s not fair to either of us,” Yosuke said, surprising even himself with the clarity of his words. 

All he knew was that he wanted Souji to be happy, and if the thing that made Souji happiest was himself, there was no way he was gonna hold himself back. And if calling Souji’s actions unfair and thereby appealing to his sense of justice was what Yosuke needed to do to get his boyfriend to feel more comfortable with their new dynamic, then that’s what he was going to do. 

“Okay,” Souji agreed happily, sliding his fingers between Yosuke’s and scooting closer so the lengths of their forearms were touching. 

Yosuke was glad he got his lecture out before Souji did that, because it was such an endearing, Souji-like thing to do, which meant it completely derailed Yosuke’s train of thought. 

“Can we kiss now?” Souji abruptly asked, sending Yosuke’s poor thought train off the tracks and into the side of a cliff, resulting in a rather fantastic explosion. 

“N-no!” Yosuke cried. “I mean, n-not right here, right now. Sheesh, you took all that to heart really quick, huh?” 

“When?” Souji asked, using his free hand to pull up the calendar on his phone. 

“The hell are you gonna do,  _ schedule _ it?!” 

“Yes?” 

“No!” 

“No kissing,” Souji said with a slight frown, shutting his phone. “Got it.” 

“Gimme a break,” Yosuke hissed, quickly glancing sideways to make sure their friends were still distracted before releasing Souji’s hand to snatch his phone away. 

“What are you doing?” Souji asked, but Yosuke angled the phone’s screen away from him while he quickly typed something in. 

When he was done typing, Yosuke shut the phone and shoved it back in Souji’s left hand. Then he grabbed Souji’s right hand again, giving an embarrassed huff as he looked away. 

Souji flipped the phone open, seeing that Yosuke had added something to today’s date on his calendar. 

_ 8:00pm: kiss yosuke _

Souji’s head snapped toward Yosuke for visual confirmation that his heart and his brain weren’t just making up things that weren’t actually there, but Yosuke was still looking away. The tip of his ear was pink though… 

They already had plans to eat dinner with Dojima and Nanako at 7 that evening, so it looked like Yosuke was planning on them being alone after dinner. 

Souji rested their hands on top of Yosuke’s jiggling leg, and Yosuke finally looked at him again, scanning Souji’s face before flashing a flustered grin.

Souji very much liked the permission Yosuke had just granted him, and at precisely 8:00pm, he would be sure to use that permission to its fullest extent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this real quick to see if I still remembered how to write, because I haven't written in over a month (not counting writing fic notes on my phone or constantly constructing a hundred different AUs in my head...).


	17. Pink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another for Livefree, just because I like her a heckin' lot.

Yosuke was so excited that of all places he could be headed to on a Friday night, he was heading home to his ridiculously overpriced Tokyo apartment. The apartment itself he could give or take, but just thinking about what was waiting for him inside the apartment put an inevitable bounce in his step. His business trip had been unexpectedly cut short by a day, and he couldn’t wait to surprise his new boyfriend with his early return.

Souji had been his friend first, then his Partner, then his roommate, and most recently his boyfriend, which was a progression Yosuke never would have expected. Now though, he grinned to himself, wildly grateful for how their relationship had transformed over the years. 

Yosuke whistled an improvised little tune as he approached their door, feeling his duffel bag once again for the irregularly-shaped lump just beneath the zipper. During his trip when he was wandering an unfamiliar street looking for a dinner spot, he’d found a pink porcelain Maneki-neko in a shop window. The shop owner, a sweet little old lady that Souji would have gotten along with famously, informed Yosuke that the pink color was supposed to attract love and romance, and Yosuke immediately knew he had to get it for Souji; he was going to love it. 

And maybe if Souji loved it enough (and if he’d missed Yosuke enough, and if he was surprised enough to see Yosuke sooner than he’d expected), he would let Yosuke spend the night in his bed. Yosuke swore up and down to himself that it was for purely practical reasons—it would be good for them to test out what it would be like to share a bedroom. 

They’d initially opted for a two-bedroom apartment despite the strain on their budgets, but Yosuke was kind of hoping since they were a couple now that they could eventually downsize to a one-bedroom. They hadn’t gotten too intimate yet and were used to having their separate spaces, but that had to change eventually (or so Yosuke prayed). 

So maybe he did hope (just a teeny-tiny bit) that Souji would let things progress beyond simple bed-sharing asap, but Yosuke would take what he could get. 

Yosuke quickly unlocked the door and pushed it open, ready to throw himself into Souji’s arms, but he was surprised to find that the main living area was completely dark. Yosuke frowned as he toed his shoes off, wondering if Souji was still out, but then he saw his keys hanging from their designated hook on the wall. He placed his own keys on the hook next to Souji’s, wondering if maybe Souji had gone to bed already, though it was kind of early in the evening for that. He’d have to check Souji’s bedroom after he set down his heavy duffel bag in his own room. 

As soon as he flipped the light switch on, Yosuke became aware of a second presence in the room, and he extracted the Maneki-neko from his bag at light speed, figuring a blow to the head from the small statue would at least stun the intruder while Yosuke devised a battle strategy. 

All those adrenaline-fueled thoughts slowed as a silver-haired head peeked out from beneath the covers.

“Yosuke?” Souji asked, his voice oddly thin and muffled by the thick blanket his face was still half-buried under. 

“Partner! Man, I thought you were a robber or something! You’re lucky I didn’t swing this thing at you,” Yosuke said, lowering the Maneki-neko and dropping his bag on the floor. “But what are you doing in here? Something wrong with your bed?” 

“Um, no, nothing’s wrong with mine,” Souji mumbled, sinking back a little farther under the covers. 

“What are you hiding?” Yosuke asked suspiciously, walking closer to the bed to try and get a better look at Souji’s face. 

“I… I, um…” Souji hesitated. 

Yosuke demanded, _“Truth.”_

“I missed you and was sleeping in your bed because it smells like you!” 

Yosuke sank onto the bed in surprise, sitting on the edge of the mattress and clutching the pink cat statue in his lap with both hands. 

“Seriously?” 

“Yeah,” Souji admitted defeatedly, finally pulling the blanket away from his face to look up at Yosuke. “I thought you wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.” 

“Surprise,” Yosuke said through a weak laugh. “But wait, were you gonna _tell_ me you had slept in my bed?” 

“That was _one_ of the options… The other was to just wash all of your bedding before you got home and thoroughly erase every last trace of my presence here.” 

_“Partner!”_ Yosuke scolded. 

“I’m sorry! I just missed you… a lot. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay,” Yosuke replied, suddenly feeling very forgiving. “That’s for you,” he said as he quickly set the Maneki-neko down on his bedside table with a hard clack, and then he stripped off his jacket, throwing it to the floor. 

“For me?” Souji asked, eyes wide and following Yosuke’s every movement. 

“Yep,” Yosuke confirmed, flopping down at Souji’s side and throwing an arm and a leg over him. 

“Yosuke?” Souji said uncertainly, shifting underneath the blanket and Yosuke’s heavy limbs. 

“I missed you too,” Yosuke said, hugging Souji more tightly to himself and planting a firm kiss against his temple. “This is okay, right?” 

“Yeah,” Souji replied softly, rotating onto his side so he could stare into Yosuke’s eyes. 

“Good, because I’ve been wanting this,” Yosuke confessed. “And I like it.” 

“I like it too,” Souji said, reaching up to gently smooth Yosuke’s hair away from his face.

“We should get a one-bedroom apartment,” Yosuke threw out, probably prematurely. 

“Okay. I’d like that.” 

“Wait, really?! That was a lot easier than I thought it would be!” Yosuke blurted out. “If I had known this was all it would take… we didn’t even have to get to the good stuff!”

“The… good stuff?” 

“Uhhh, forget I said that?”

“But I don’t want to,” Souji murmured before boldly pressing his lips against Yosuke’s. 

When Souji drew back, Yosuke released a shaky little sigh of anticipation. 

With heavy lids and swiftly darkening eyes, Souji asked, “You know what the pink Maneki-neko is supposed to bring?” 

“Yep,” Yosuke confirmed. “Love.” 

“Love,” Souji echoed, reaching over Yosuke and past the Maneki-neko to switch off the light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue: They did it. And then they got a one-bedroom.
> 
> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	18. Happy Place

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-relationship.

Yosuke was huddled on the ground and visibly freaked out, and none of Souji’s usual methods were calming him down. 

There was one more thing Souji could try, but he didn’t remember where he’d heard the advice or from whom. 

“Go to your happy place.”

Yosuke looked sideways at Souji questioningly, but then he seemed to drift off into another world again, turning to stare blankly into the distance. 

“Think of a place that makes you feel happy,” Souji rephrased. “Like… the beach?” 

“The last time I went to the beach I got pinched by a crab.” 

In different circumstances, Souji definitely would have laughed at that. 

Souji tried, “Okay, how about… alone on top of a peaceful mountain?”  
  
“Alone? I… don’t wanna be alone…”

“No, hey, never mind, no, you’re not alone,” Souji backtracked, starting to get the feeling he was no good at this. “Okay, forget my hypotheticals. Where’s the last actual place you felt safe and happy and peaceful? Go there.” 

Yosuke seemed to contemplate that for a while before giving a short nod and then sliding closer to Souji. He slowly, cautiously reached out and wrapped his arms around him, only gently pulling his Partner toward himself at first.

“Oh,” Souji breathed.

“Yeah,” Yosuke said quietly, distantly. 

It wasn’t until Souji returned the gesture, gathering Yosuke in his arms, that Yosuke heaved a relieved sigh and squeezed him hard, letting himself fully settle against Souji’s frame. 

All Souji could do while his racing thoughts attempted to catch up was silently hold Yosuke there, hoping Yosuke was somehow able to receive whatever comfort he needed from him. 

It had been a while since they had been like this, on that day when Yosuke had sobbed all over him, shaking and clutching at Souji’s blazer before finally calming down in his embrace. 

It had meant the world to Souji, but he hadn’t known it meant so much to Yosuke too. Souji just figured it was something Yosuke would rather forget. 

But just like that last time, as Souji spread his fingers out against Yosuke’s back, he could feel his best friend calming beneath his touch. 

_The last place he felt safe and happy and peaceful… was with me? Like this?_

Yosuke shifted and lightly pressed his warm forehead where Souji’s shoulder met the base of his neck, and in that moment Souji decided to take that as a resounding “yes.” 

And even though he never wanted Yosuke to be sad or scared or uncomfortable, Souji was glad to discover he was Yosuke’s happy place. He would be sure to tell Yosuke later that his happy place was open for business 24/7, because one of Souji’s primary desires in life was for Yosuke to be happy, after all—for him to smile, for him to enjoy himself, for him to feel valued and loved…

Not trusting that his voice wouldn’t crack if he spoke any louder, Souji whispered, “I’m happy here too.”

Yosuke nodded against him, and Souji could hear the slight smile in his voice when he said, _“Our_ happy place.”

Souji nodded back, content to be there in their happy place—a space where they were simply together, physically feeling each other’s support—with hope in his heart that it would be a place he could frequent more often.


	19. A Pop of Orange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *peers into the darkness* It’s not safe to go alone! Take this. *hands you Souyo fluff*
> 
> (Pre-relationship, third year.)

Souji sat on a short metal bench and wiggled his toes in his socked feet, waiting for the store associate who had been helping him to return. The eager middle-aged man had watched him run on a treadmill, measured his feet, and asked questions about his fitness goals before disappearing to the back.

Souji had been contemplating taking up running for a while now. Ever since he’d moved back to the city, he had been exercising a lot less. Unlike when he was in Inaba, his commute to school and the handful of other places he frequented consisted more of public transportation than walking, plus there was the whole lack of TV World exercise.

On the off chance that he _was_ forced into another TV World situation (or, god forbid, another otherworldly dance-off), he wanted to get back into top shape. More importantly, he hoped it would be good for his overall mental state to get outside and move around more. After living in the wide open space of Inaba, his apartment with his parents and even the city as a whole, as big as it was, felt more stifling than ever. 

Even if he accomplished nothing else, he knew one person who would be proud of him… 

“I’ve got a few choices for you here!” the sales associate exclaimed, startling Souji out of his thoughts. The man was haphazardly juggling three boxes of shoes, and Souji immediately jumped up to help him. “Oh, thank you!” he said as Souji lifted the boxes out of his arms and piled them on the bench. “If you don’t like any of these, I can pull some more for you, but I have a _very_ good feeling the winner is right here among us!” he finished with a wink.

“Thank you,” Souji said quietly, a little embarrassed by all the personal attention but appreciating the man’s enthusiasm anyways. 

He sat back down on the bench and pulled the first box off the top of the pile and into his lap. 

“Oh, I should have asked about your color preferences before I left!” the associate suddenly asserted. “I hope you don’t mind; I made some guesses,” he said, looking pointedly from Souji’s hair to his eyes to his sweater. 

Just as he suspected, when Souji opened the box, the shoes were a solid light grey that matched his cable knit sweater exactly. 

He chuckled a bit to himself, loosening the laces so he could try the shoes on. He didn’t care much about the color, as long as it wasn’t anything too crazy, and the sales associate wasn’t exactly wrong about his aesthetic. But what mattered most was the fit, not how they looked. 

Souji could immediately feel the shoes were a bit on the tight side, but he stood up and walked around in them anyways to appease the associate. 

“Hm, yes,” the associate said thoughtfully, “I did notice a bit of wideness in the foot. The next pair should fit you better, then!” 

The next pair was also completely grey, albeit a couple shades darker. 

Souji had thought he didn’t care about the color, but there was a moment of doubt where he wondered if his tastes (and by extension, himself?) were too bland. 

This pair did fit better, and they were comfortable to walk around in. Souji even hopped on the treadmill to test them out, and they were all right. Running shoes were expensive though, and Souji was hoping for something a little better than just all right for such a hefty price tag. Not finding anything particularly special about them, he gave them back to the associate. 

“No worries, no worries at all! This next pair…” the associate said cheerfully with a weird twinkle in his eye, “These are gonna be the ones for you. I can feel it!” 

As soon as Souji flipped the lid of the box open and saw the third pair of shoes, he knew the associate was right. He immediately decided he wasn’t leaving the store without the shoes, but once again he tried them on anyways to appease the associate. They fit perfectly, because of course they did, and they gave the perfect amount of support in all the right places as he ran in them on the treadmill. 

“I’ll take these,” Souji said decidedly as he removed the shoes to place them neatly back in their box. 

“Ah, I knew it! I knew as soon as I picked them up; those are the ones for you! I’ll go start ringing you up!” the associate said excitedly, scooping up the box and scooting over to the counter where the register was. 

Souji smiled to himself as he slipped on the loafers he’d worn into the store. 

He had thought he didn’t care what color the shoes were, but when he laid eyes on the two-tone grey shoes with a pop of bright orange, he just couldn’t help himself. 

And then of course, his pop of bright orange appeared on his caller ID, and he answered immediately. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey, Partner!” Yosuke greeted, causing warmth to instantly flood through Souji’s chest. “Whatcha doin’?” 

“I’m at a running store buying shoes.”

“For real? So you’re seriously gonna start running? That’s awesome! I’m proud of you, man.”

Souji’s smile grew wider, and he almost replied with “I knew you would be,” but he bit his tongue. 

“Hey, I’ve gotta check out, but I’ll call you back as soon as I’m done?” 

“Oh, you already picked a pair? You’ve gotta send me a pic!” 

“You got it.” 

“Okay, talk to you in a few!”

“Can’t wait,” Souji said earnestly before catching himself and hanging up before he said anything more embarrassing. 

He clutched his phone and stared blankly ahead for a moment, feeling as breathless as if he’d already run a mile in his new shoes. 

He _was_ going to run a mile, and then another mile and another, and one day when he built up the courage, he was gonna run right into Yosuke’s arms. 


	20. Worth-most

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this approximately *checks watch* one million years ago on Tumblr to celebrate the birthday of the lovely @RomeoandAntoinette. It's a little longer than my usual cream puffs, with some angst before the fluff, so be warned. Includes work-related stress. Established, young adult Souyo. For the prompt: “You’re worth every second of my time.”

There was nothing like a long day at work to make Yosuke feel completely worthless. His boss, his coworkers, his clients—everyone had gotten on his nerves today, and every single one of them took him for granted. Maybe he wasn’t the smartest person in the office, or the most willing to kiss ass, but he was a good, loyal, consistent worker, which was more than could be said for just about everyone else there. 

He was drained physically and emotionally, plus he was starving. As he climbed the stairs to his apartment, he wondered if he would make it up to the fourth floor, or if he would just collapse before he got there. Or better yet, his stomach would growl so hard that he would crack the foundation of the building, and the whole structure would crumble down on top of him. 

_That would be a fitting end to today,_ Yosuke thought morosely, halfway aware that his thoughts only got this dramatic when he was really spent. 

Even if literally everything had sucked all day, he at least had one thing to look forward to—Souji had promised him a homemade dinner tonight. Even though they lived together and saw each other every day, it had been a while since they’d eaten dinner together, let alone one of Souji’s famous made-from-scratch meals. Yosuke felt like it was a waste—a waste of Souji’s talents in the kitchen and (selfishly) a waste of Yosuke basically having his own personal chef in his home. 

But tonight, Souji had promised to cook for him. Yosuke’s mouth started to water just imagining some inevitably delicious scent hitting him in the face once he opened their front door, and the thought just barely gave him the strength to climb the final flight of stairs. 

However, when he unlocked the door and threw it open, there was no delicious scent there to greet him. 

Yosuke wondered if Souji was cooking something that didn’t have a particularly strong aroma, but if there was one thing Souji wasn’t shy about, it was his use of seasonings. Maybe he had finished cooking early and put everything away to heat back up when Yosuke got home? Or maybe he made something cold? It was a pretty crisp evening outside though, so Yosuke was sure Souji would want to prepare something warm… 

Yosuke dropped his bag and went to the kitchen to investigate. Souji wasn’t there, the lights were off, and it almost looked like nothing in the room had even been touched since Yosuke had left that morning, which was strange since Souji worked from home and should have made himself lunch at some point. 

Staving off his disappointment, Yosuke checked the fridge, but nothing had changed in there either. He even checked the stove, the oven, and even the microwave for residual heat, but once again he came up with nothing. 

Yosuke hadn’t heard from Souji all day, but that was par for the course lately. They didn’t _mean_ to call and text each other less during the workday than they used to, but again, _busy._

Then Yosuke started to get a sneaking suspicion, so he made his way down the hall to the spare room they had made into Souji’s office. 

The door was cracked open, and Yosuke pressed his ear near the gap, only to hear Souji quietly muttering to himself the way he only ever did when he was both very stressed and very focused. Yosuke felt a rush of both relief and annoyance—Souji was alive at least, but there he was just sitting at his desk and not keeping his dinner promise that had been _his_ idea and he had made _such_ a big deal about, saying he wanted to spend time with Yosuke and do something special for him. 

Choosing to tread lightly just in case, Yosuke peeked his head in the door and said, “Souji? You got a sec?” 

Souji’s head shot up from where it was buried in a stack of papers, his eyes going unfocused behind his reading glasses as he looked at Yosuke. 

“Oh. You’re home,” Souji said flatly, and for some reason, that made Yosuke’s blood boil. 

Souji then looked from Yosuke to the clock that was hung high up on the wall, lowering his glasses so he could actually read the time. 

“Guess you don’t have a sec, then,” Yosuke said bitterly, looking away from Souji. “I’m not very hungry. I’m gonna go straight to bed.” 

He _was_ still hungry (even if this exchange had somewhat soured his appetite), but throwing that in would be a reminder to Souji of his broken promise while also letting him know that he didn’t need to bother tending to Yosuke for the rest of the night if he really didn’t want to. 

As soon as Yosuke reached their bedroom, he fell face-first into bed, not caring about changing out of his work clothes or washing up or making himself anything to eat. He just lay there, stubbornly putting up with how difficult it was to breathe with his face pressed into the mattress because he was just so _done._

“This is so stupid,” he groaned into the bedding. “After all this time, I’m still just a disappointment, first at work, and now at home too? I really am worthless, huh?” 

“No,” Souji’s voice said softly from the doorway. 

Yosuke groaned again. 

Souji had heard him say that? Of course he had. 

Yosuke felt the mattress dip as Souji sat beside him, and Yosuke turned his face away, really not wanting to talk right now. 

Souji asked, “What makes you say that?” 

“Say what? The worthless thing? Don’t worry about it. Aren’t you busy? You should go back to your work.”

Yosuke was being petty, and he knew it. He was pushing away the only person who could comfort him, and he knew that too. Still, it felt like he couldn’t help it. At least he had enough self-control to not let out all the negativity at once—he wasn’t yelling or throwing anything or spontaneously combusting. That had to count for _something._

“You’re more important than my work,” Souji said, and Yosuke almost scoffed at what appeared to be just a platitude at this point. 

Souji gently placed a hand on the middle of Yosuke’s back, and Yosuke froze. As much as he wanted to squirm away in a show of not accepting comfort from his Partner who he was mad at, that would be way too much effort in his current position. 

Souji continued, “And that’s why I feel terrible about letting time get away from me. I was so focused on my work, I had no idea how much time had passed. That’s no reason to break a promise, though.”

“So you remember, huh?” Yosuke said, immediately hating how he must have sounded like a whiny baby who was crying about missing his afternoon snack or something. “It’s whatever, man. Look, I’m in a bad mood, so just go back to what you were doing. Don’t waste your time on me; I know it’s valuable.” 

Souji’s hand lightly grasped the back of Yosuke’s sweater, probably involuntarily, and his voice broke as he said: “You’re worth every second of my time.” 

_Shit,_ Yosuke thought, feeling like a huge asshole. In his bitter state, he had _wanted_ to upset Souji to get back at him, but as soon as he could actually _hear_ that Souji was upset, he wanted to take it all back. 

Yosuke slowly turned to look up at Souji, who looked guilty, and scared, and _devastated,_ and whatever darkness spell was cast over Yosuke’s heart started to dissipate.

“I’m so sorry, Yosuke,” Souji said, his pretty silver eyes pleading for a forgiveness that only Yosuke could grant; he was never good at forgiving himself. 

As Yosuke peered up at him—his beautiful and imperfect Partner, the only person who truly thought Yosuke was worth _everything_ and made that clear as often as he could (except this particular instance where he just happened to make a mistake on the wrong day at the wrong time)… 

Yosuke sat up and crawled into Souji’s lap, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. 

“I’m sorry too.” 

Souji quickly hugged Yosuke back as if his life depended on it, and then he placed a kiss on Yosuke’s cheek before breathing a warm sigh into Yosuke’s hair—and just like that, it felt like Yosuke’s world had fallen back into alignment. 

“I love you, Partner.” 

“I love you too.” 

They sat like that for a while, not saying anything, until the silence was finally broken by both of their stomachs growling. 

Souji said sadly, “You’re starving, aren’t you...” 

In the exact same tone, Yosuke asked, “You skipped lunch, didn’t you…” 

They both answered, “Yeah.” 

Still holding onto Yosuke with one arm, Souji reached into his pocket for his phone. 

“I’ll order our usual for tonight, and I _swear_ I will make you dinner tomorrow night. I’ll set a hundred reminders on my phone, and I’ll prep some of the ingredients in the morning before I even start working, and—”

“Okay, I believe you. Extra dumplings, please,” Yosuke requested as he watched Souji text their order to the owner of the local takeout place with whom they were way too familiar with at this point. 

After Souji hit send, he tossed the phone on the bed, and his arm resumed its place around Yosuke. He looked reverently up into Yosuke’s eyes, as if he was gazing up at the stars. “I _swear_ this time, Yosuke. I swear… on your life.” 

“On _my_ life?! Aren’t you supposed to swear on like, your mother’s life or something?” 

“Your life is the most important to me,” Souji stated, and Yosuke knew that it wasn’t just a platitude. 

“Partner, if that’s your weird-ass way of trying to convince me I’m not worthless—”

“You’re the opposite of worthless. You’re… worth-more. You’re worth-most!” Souji said, eyes bright with his own assertion. 

“That’s not a word.”

“It wasn’t until now because no one has ever been worth-most until you.” 

“You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.”

“Probably, but not because I think you’re worth-most. That just can’t be helped.” 

“Okay, you love me, I get it,” Yosuke said tiredly, slumping against Souji. 

“Nope, I don’t think you do,” Souji said, planting a quick kiss into the side of Yosuke’s neck. “It’ll take about fifteen, twenty minutes for the food to come, so in the meantime, I’ll just have to remind you of how much you mean to me.” 

Yosuke pulled back to shoot Souji an incredulous look. 

“Are you _seriously_ trying to fit in a quickie before the food comes?” 

Caught off guard, Souji looked up at him with wide eyes, his mouth parting a bit as he struggled to come up with a response.

“That’s not what I… I was thinking more like, I could massage some of this tension out of your back while I listen to you talk about what happened at work today…”

“Oh.”

“…but if you want…” 

_“No!_ Forget it.”

Souji chuckled as Yosuke climbed out of his lap and promptly turned his back to him for that back rub. 

After a thorough massage, a therapeutic venting session, a few more apologies, more than a few kisses, and a hastily scarfed-down dinner, the two of them cuddled up on the couch, as per Yosuke’s request.

“Thanks, Partner,” Yosuke sighed, feeling better than he had in days, maybe weeks. “Sorry again.” 

“It’s okay.” 

“Are you sure you don’t need to get back to work though?” 

“I’m all yours, for the rest of the night,” Souji promised, and Yosuke nodded appreciatively. “So did you want that quickie now or later?” 

Souji was obviously joking, but Yosuke angled his body toward him and started pressing kisses along his jaw, feeling the heat from Souji’s blush as it started to form on his cheeks. 

In all seriousness, Yosuke asked softly against Souji’s skin, “It doesn’t _have_ to be quick, does it?” 

Already losing himself under Yosuke’s touch, Souji murmured, “Ngh… n-not at all.”


	21. Mostly You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr for the most excellent @livefree_13's birthday. For the prompt: “I think about you all the time.” Third year, pre-relationship Souyo.

It was Yosuke’s turn to call him today, so Souji sat on the floor of his bedroom, patiently folding paper cranes while he waited. 

They had spoken to each other on the phone nearly every day since Souji had left Inaba, and Souji was grateful that Yosuke always seemed eager to hear from him. Even if it was just a quick call after school on his way to Junes, or while he was drifting off to sleep after a long day—Yosuke made time for Souji, and that meant the world to him.

The ringtone Souji had specifically assigned to Yosuke started playing, and Souji smiled, like he always did. It was a song Yosuke had shared with him to cheer him up when things had been at their worst, and now Souji knew every word and every note of the track. 

“Hey, Yosuke,” Souji greeted warmly, putting his phone on speaker and setting it on his desk so he could keep folding. 

“Hey, Partner!” Yosuke said happily, and Souji smiled again. He would never get tired of that enthusiasm. “What are you up to?” 

“Cranes.”

“Haha, again? Are you trying to set a world record for ‘most paper cranes folded’ or something?” 

“No, but now that you say that, it sounds pretty good. I think that’ll be my goal now.” 

Instead of dismissing the joke like Souji expected him to, Yosuke said, “Well, if anyone can do it, it’s you. I believe in you, Partner!” 

“Thank you,” Souji said dumbly, becoming flustered for a moment before he could think of a better reply. “If I do break the record, you’ll be the first one I invite to the party.”

“The party?” 

“Yeah, to celebrate my success.” 

“Oh man, a party thrown by you? I can see it now. It’s gonna be a total rager,” Yosuke laughed. 

“Of course. It’ll be the most enraged of ragers.”

“That doesn’t even make sense!” 

“Honestly, it would probably just end up being you and me sitting in a room drinking something like, not even alcoholic, and we would try to clink our glasses together and probably spill lemonade everywhere—”

“When did it turn into lemonade?”

“—and then you’d be all ‘Congrats, Partner,’ and yeah, that would probably be it.” 

Souji expected Yosuke to laugh at the image he had created, or to call it lame and throw out ideas for an actual rager… 

“I mean, as long as I’m there with you, I’m down for whatever.” 

Souji dropped his paper crane. 

_Why?_ Souji mentally asked Yosuke, picking his crane back up off the floor. _Why must you say such cute things?_

Not about to say anything remotely like that out loud, Souji asked, “So what are you doing right now?”

Not seeming to notice the abrupt change of subject, Yosuke answered, “I’m doing homework! Kind of.” 

“Are you just doodling in the margins?” 

“Not just the margins, Partner—the whole paper! Because, you know, there’s no notes on the page…” 

Souji sighed. “Do I need to hang up so you can get your homework done?”

“No! No no no! Please don’t hang up! I’ll actually do it later, I promise!”

“Calm down, I’m not actually gonna hang up on you.” 

“Okay, good.”

“That does remind me, though… Lately I’ve been daydreaming in class a lot. Sometimes I’ll just completely space out, and by the time I space back in, I realize I haven’t been paying attention for an entire lecture.” 

“For real? Did my bad habits rub off on you?”

“Why do you sound like that? What are you doing now?”

“Finished drawing. Balancing a pencil on my nose. Crap! I dropped it. Anyways, you’re supposed to be the good student between the two of us, man! We can’t both be slacking off!” 

“Sorry, Yosuke.”

Before Souji could say anything else, Yosuke suddenly asked, “What do you think about?” 

“Hm?”

“When you’re daydreaming all that time—what are you thinking about?”

“Well… I think about last year a lot, and how I wish I was still there with everyone, and I think about recipes I want to make, and movies I want to see, and what I want to do after high school, and… you. Mostly you, actually,” Souji accidentally admitted. 

“Me? What about me?” 

Now that Souji had let the cat peek its head out of the bag, he wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to keep the rest of it in the bag for much longer. 

“I think about all the crazy and terrible and amazing times we had together last year, and how I wish was still there with you. I think about recipes I want to make for you to try, and the faces you’ll make when you’re eating them. I think about movies I want to see, whether or not you would like them, the discussions we would have after we watched them together… I think about how badly I want to do whatever it takes to have more of you in my life after I finish this stupid third year… Yeah, all the time. I think about you all the time.”

“Partner, that’s… um, unexpected. I’m sure someone like you has better things to think about than me.”

Souji shook his head. “No. I don’t. Not more important than you, no.” 

“You’re exaggerating, right? To make me feel good?” 

“I’m not. _Does_ it make you feel good?”

“Well, yeah, sure it does. Being on someone’s mind makes me feel special, y’know? Especially _your_ mind.”

“You seem surprised, Yosuke. You really don’t have any idea how important you are to me, do you?” 

“I guess not? I don't know, it’s just… hard to believe. Do you know why I always make sure we talk to each other like this? I mean, obviously I don’t want you to be lonely, and I want to make sure you’re doing okay, but also like, I just don’t want you to forget me.”

Souji scoffed, immediately covering his mouth afterwards because he definitely hadn’t meant to do that, even if what Yosuke had said was completely ludicrous. 

_Forget you? With the amount of running around you do in my mind, how on earth could I possibly forget you?_

Souji quickly tried to find a way to convey that sentiment to Yosuke in a less creepy way. 

“The only way I could ever forget you is if I had a major head injury, like blunt force trauma, and I forgot _everything…_ or, if I, you know, died.” 

_“Partner!_ Don’t say shit like that!” 

“My problem isn’t forgetting you; my problem is remembering you too much. Seriously, it’s _constant._ But actually, yeah, no, I don’t want to think of you any less, not really…”

“Heh, is this what it feels like to be flattered? You’re really something else, Partner. Oh hey, I’ve gotta go; my mom’s calling me for dinner.”

“Okay,” Souji sighed, feeling like he had sort of just poured his heart out (in a subtle yet super vulnerable and embarrassing way?), and yet the conversation had not come anywhere close to a satisfying resolution. “Tell her I said hi.” 

“Will do! She’ll be thrilled, haha. She’s actually trying out one of the recipes you left her, so I’ll let you know how it goes. Don’t worry though; it’s definitely not gonna be as good as when you make it.” 

Souji rediscovered his smile, happy that Yosuke would be thinking about him after he hung up—comparing his mother’s cooking against Souji’s own while he ate, remembering the times Souji had made the dish for him, coming up with an evaluation to share with Souji after the meal was done… 

“Your loyalty is appreciated.” 

“All right, Partner, thanks for talking to me.”

“Yosuke? I’m sorry if anything I said was too weird.” 

“All you _ever_ say is weird stuff, man. I’m used to it.” 

“Pfft, okay, bye.” 

“Talk to you later!” 

Yosuke hung up, and Souji finished off the crane he was working on, setting the red paper bird on his desk in a row with several other red cranes. He took a photo and sent it off to Yosuke with the caption: “It’s like your shirt.” 

Satisfied with that, Souji stood up so he could go make his own dinner, but a text from Yosuke stopped him in his tracks. 

Instead of a reply about his picture, he opened up an unexpected picture from Yosuke. 

It was of his notebook, the one he had been doodling in at the beginning of their conversation. 

The first thing that caught his eye was a big-headed (chibi?) doodle of himself (the distinct bowl cut was a dead giveaway) in the middle of the page, holding his sword and wearing his TV World glasses. He also appeared to be on fire? Or maybe that was a representation of Persona power? 

Whatever it was, it was adorable.

Souji’s gaze flitted across the full page, his breaths growing more shallow as he took it all in: Izanagi and Jiraiya doing cool(?) action poses next to each other, a bento box that looked very much like the ones Souji used to prepare for Yosuke every day, a half-melted snowman wearing Souji’s grey scarf and Nanako’s Loveline hat, a Mega Beef Bowl from Aiya’s and stick figure versions of all their friends drowning in it… 

It took Souji a minute to realize it, but every single doodle across the page was somehow related to himself, and the memories he and Yosuke shared together. 

In the bottom corner of the page, one doodle was squeezed in that must have been the last one Yosuke drew. It was the two of them standing side-by-side in front of a house (but it didn’t look like any house that Souji recognized?) with their arms around each other’s shoulders. They were wearing big happy faces, and one of Yosuke’s arms was in the air, as if he was waving. 

The circular sun with squiggly rays coming out of it was in the sky above them, smiling and wearing sunglasses, ironically. There was a thing in front of the house that Souji didn’t recognize at first until he saw the bike next to it; it was a half-pipe. 

Then Souji squinted at another part of the doodle and zoomed in on the image, not quite believing his eyes.

In the front window of the house, there was a cat peeking through, big and fluffy just like Souji liked. 

Was that supposed to be… _their_ house? 

“No way,” Souji whispered to himself.

Then he scrolled down to the caption and completely lost his breath. 

_“I think of you too.”_

And with that, Souji’s fate was sealed—he was going to be thinking about Yosuke—his Partner who he was in love with _(who thought about him too!)_ —nonstop for the rest of his life. 


	22. Snack Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second year, pre-relationship, a wee bit of Unhappy before the Obligatory Happy Ending~

Noting that it had gotten dark since they had first started playing their video game, Souji paused the game and turned to Yosuke, who was sitting on the floor beside him (pretty much glued to his side, like usual). 

“Do you want some more snacks?” Souji asked. 

Yosuke just stared back, oddly silent for a moment.

Then he slowly started leaning toward Souji’s face, and Souji suddenly had no idea what was happening. 

He wasn’t sure if he leaned in too, or if that was all Yosuke (though he was halfway sure he did tilt his head just the tiniest bit, on reflex), but then Yosuke was closing his eyes and kissing his lips, gently, almost reverently. 

Souji didn’t dare move, didn’t close his eyes, didn’t _breathe,_ just allowing Yosuke to do… whatever he was doing. 

It ended soon enough, with Yosuke pulling back and the dreamy look in his eyes instantly dissolving into pure _fear._

For some reason, Souji felt like he could cry. 

Yosuke’s gaze stayed fixed on his face, searching for something as his gaping mouth tried and failed to form words. 

Souji was confused more than anything, and he could feel the tension growing throughout his body, from his rigid posture to the small, tight frown on his face. 

Yosuke seemed to notice these things too, scanning Souji so quickly that Souji couldn’t even keep up, and then Yosuke was backing away and rising to his feet. He scooped up his coat and phone so fast it was like he had rehearsed the movements (while Souji was still paralyzed, drowning in a sea of a thousand tangled thoughts), and without looking at Souji, he mumbled, “I should go,” before making a hasty escape through Souji’s bedroom door. 

_Go?_ Souji finally thought, a few words of clarity surfacing in his brain. _But you were supposed to sleep over…_

As he heard Yosuke’s footfalls descending the stairs, he noticed Yosuke’s headphones lying on the floor, forgotten. 

“Yosuke…” Souji whispered somberly to the now-empty room.

His best friend had left a very important part of himself behind. 

That wouldn’t do. 

As Souji rushed down the stairs and into the living room, Nanako nearly ran into him, looking distressed. 

“Big Bro!” she cried, latching onto the hem of his shirt. “Is something wrong with Yosuke? He just ran out the door, and he looked really sad!”

 _Oh no, Yosuke,_ Souji thought, his muddy thoughts steadily becoming clearer. _He’s sad. I made him sad. He’s leaving. I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave._

“I’ll check on him. You stay here. I’ll be back,” Souji said, patting her head and then taking off toward the door. 

“Be safe, Big Bro! I’ll wait for you here!” Nanako called after him as he went through the door and shut it behind himself. 

Yosuke was already disappearing down the sidewalk, shakily walking beside his bike instead of riding it. 

Souji jogged after him, noticing Yosuke’s left shoe was untied and simultaneously realizing that he’d forgotten to slip his own shoes on as his feet connected with the cool pavement. 

“Yosuke!” he called, stopping under a street light and waiting for Yosuke to turn around. 

He was surprised when Yosuke tensed at hearing his voice and then just started walking faster. 

“Yosuke?” Souji tried again, but when Yosuke refused to slow down or acknowledge him, Souji had to start jogging again. 

Soon he was matching Yosuke’s pace, walking on the other side of his bike, but Yosuke wouldn’t look at him, quickly turning his head toward the street and using the sleeve of his jacket to swipe at his eyes. 

_I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave._

“Don’t go,” Souji requested, placing a hand on top of the seat of the bike to stop it from moving forward. 

“And why shouldn’t I?!” Yosuke asked, voice cracking as he insistently pushed the bike forward by the handlebars, effectively moving it out from under Souji’s grasp. 

“Because you left your headphones.”

Yosuke halted to shoot a scathing look of disbelief at Souji. 

_“That’s_ why I shouldn’t leave?” he asked. “Just… let me go, man.”

“No,” Souji responded bluntly, swinging a leg over the bike and plopping his ass right down on the seat. 

When Yosuke started to protest, Souji put down the kickstand and planted both of his feet on the sidewalk. 

“Are you seriously hijacking my bike right now?!” Yosuke shrieked, not letting go of the handlebars and staring Souji down. 

“Can’t we just… go back and talk about this?”

“No, we can’t!”

“Why not?” 

“There’s nothing to talk about! Besides, you already said enough…”

Once again, Souji was confused. 

“But I barely said anything.” 

“You _didn’t_ say anything! But haven’t you ever heard of ‘actions speak louder than words’? The way you looked at me, like I’d grown a second fucking head… Will you just get off my bike?!” 

“Do it again!” Souji demanded out of nowhere, finally letting his impulses overpower his thoughts. 

“Do what?!”

“If actions speak louder than words, then kiss me again! I’m listening this time! I’m… I’m ready this time.”

Souji tried not to wither under Yosuke’s hard stare, standing his ground as Yosuke seemed to go through several flavors of internal conflict. 

Yosuke finally shook his head, minutely. “I shouldn’t have… the first time…”

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Souji resolved, reaching up to tug on the open flap of Yosuke’s jacket, firmly enough to bring Yosuke’s face closer to his, but not so much that Yosuke couldn’t pull away if he truly wanted to.

Yosuke didn’t pull away. 

Instead, he just watched Souji, waiting for his next move. 

Souji slowly leaned in closer, and while it didn’t appear that Yosuke leaned in to meet him, he _definitely_ tilted his head to accommodate the kiss… probably on reflex. 

Thankfully, mercifully, beautifully, Yosuke was a much more reactive person than Souji. 

As soon as their mouths met, a thin, short whine came from the back of his throat, and his attempt to swallow the noise down only pushed his mouth more firmly into Souji’s. 

Their lips separated with a light smack, and then Yosuke inhaled a big gulp of air, holding it for a second as he stared at Souji’s mouth. 

“Partner…” he exhaled, and then he asked vaguely, “This… is okay? You’re okay with… this?” 

Souji nodded, not even bothering to smile since the smile blossoming on Yosuke’s face was already blinding enough for the both of them. 

“I, um, guess I read things wrong back there,” Yosuke laughed bashfully. “I’m really sorry, Partner.” 

“And I read things too slowly,” Souji said, shaking his head. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s okay,” Yosuke repeated, eyes shining, and then he nodded as if to confirm the words one more time. “It’s okay!” he chuckled happily, before letting go of the handlebars to grab Souji’s face to pull him in for another kiss. 

Souji quickly had to brace himself against the pavement again (Yosuke had done such a good job at sweeping Souji off his feet that Souji had forgotten to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground), and he grabbed the handlebars just as Yosuke’s lips collided with his, with a confidence this time that Souji already found irresistible. 

Finally, Souji’s thoughts were completely clear.

_I don’t want him to be sad. I don’t want him to leave._

_I want to make him happy. I want him to stay with me._

_I love him._

When Yosuke released him, Souji abruptly turned Yosuke’s bike around. 

“Let’s go back now?” he asked, looking back at Yosuke. 

“I mean, I kinda have to go back, don’t I?” Yosuke said, ruffling the back of Souji’s hair. “I did leave my headphones, after all.” 

Souji grinned as he smoothed his hair back down. “Would you like to ride on the back of my bike?” 

Flustered and blushing, Yosuke yelled, “Get the hell off my bike!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once they assured Nanako that everything was okay, the three of them had snacks together. Then the boys went back upstairs and smooched a lot probably. Because Souj is a snacc. And Yosk is a snacc. And they are HUNGRY!!!
> 
> Anyways. Usually when I write sudden/confession smooches (which I do surprisingly often lmao), they are immediately returned, so I just wanted to write something where the response was a little slower (to showcase the one fluid ounce of restraint I have). This was also inspired by the dysfunction of my own brain (lol)--in certain situations (usually social), my brain just can't keep up with what's happening. Also, I just get really lost in my own thoughts, but then I'm like, 'oh wait, real life is still happening, huh, I should probably do something about that.' So that's what I projected onto Souji here. ✌️
> 
> P.S. I was 100% gonna have Souji fall off the bike (b/c of Yosk's smooch) and take Yosk down with him, but I spared them. ~~I'll save that for another time.~~


	23. When I Breathe Air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m not formally participating in Souyo Week this year (well, I’m not writing every day, but you can bet your sweet patootie that I’m liking/commenting/reblogging daily which def counts as participation and is very important!), but I already had this one planned out and it just so happens to fit one of the Souyo Week themes (Day 3: Windy), so here we are.

It was a pleasant day outside, with the sun peeking intermittently through the clouds and a gentle breeze blowing. 

Yosuke hated it. 

Souji was walking him to work, just as he had been doing religiously for every single one of Yosuke’s shifts lately. Yosuke had insisted that Souji didn’t have to, but he relished in the fact that Souji did it anyways—that he wanted to spend every possible moment with Yosuke. 

But today was the last time—the last pre-shift walk before Souji would leave to return to the city. It annoyed Yosuke how everything nowadays was a ‘last’—the last time they would eat at Aiya’s as a team, the last time Souji would prepare x or y dish for him and the Dojimas, the last time they would lie next to each other in the grass at Samegawa… Even more though, Yosuke hated how he was running out of those lasts, and soon Souji really would be gone. 

The weather seemed to reflect the steady worsening of Yosuke’s mood, and the longer they walked, the more the gentle breeze picked up and transformed into almost violent gusts of wind. 

Souji kept glancing worriedly between the darkening sky and Yosuke, but Yosuke wasn’t too concerned about the change in the weather. 

Yosuke lifted his hand in the air, palm up, in the space between him and Souji. He wiggled his fingers, feeling the wind flowing between his digits. 

When Souji gave him a curious look, Yosuke grinned bashfully and simply said, “Garu.” 

Yosuke wasn’t sure what reaction he was expecting from Souji, but he just looked charmed, a fond little smile on his face. 

A fond little smile shouldn’t have felt like a hard kick to Yosuke’s chest, but it did. Moments like this, smiles like that, his Partner’s quiet but steadfast presence beside him, that fondness that Yosuke always failed to expect but always was so grateful for… he was going to miss all of this, he was going to miss  _ Souji, _ more than he could stand. 

But even more than that, he couldn’t stand the thought of things never being like this again. 

“Hey, Partner,” Yosuke said tightly, feeling his composure slip as he lowered his hand and clenched it at his side. “When you’re back in the city, whenever it’s windy like this, think about me, okay?” 

A thoughtful look came over Souji’s face and then he stopped walking, as if entertaining such a deep thought and walking at the same time was just too much to handle. 

Yosuke stopped and just watched while the gears turned in Souji’s head, patiently wondering what he would finally end up saying. 

“That’s not often enough.”

Yosuke wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but before he could ask, Souji closed his eyes. Yosuke figured Souji had to be contemplating an even deeper thought than before if he had to close his eyes for it. 

Yosuke didn’t mind though. He didn’t mind waiting, memorizing the side of Souji’s upturned profile as the wind tousled his hair.

Then Yosuke smiled, knowing that as soon as Souji got through whatever moment he was having with himself, he would be fixing his hair, running his long fingers through it to wrestle it back into place; he always hated for any part of his hair to be askew. 

It was a dumb thing to love about someone, Yosuke supposed, but he loved it anyways. 

“How about…” Souji started, slowly opening his eyes and blinking a few times. “...I’ll think about you every time I breathe air.”

Yosuke suddenly felt that distinct divide between his heart and his head; there was the way he  _ wanted _ to interpret those words, but then his mind wouldn’t let him believe something like that could ever be true. 

“But that’s like, all the time,” Yosuke said. “Unless you’re underwater, swimming… or drowning? Or suffocating! H-hey, don’t do any of those things, okay?! Just stay safe, and breathe a lot!” 

Yosuke was spiraling swiftly and he knew it, but then Souji calmly, gently placed a hand on his shoulder, and everything froze in time—the whirlwind of his thoughts, the shaking in his hands, the ache in his heart. 

There it was again on Souji’s face—the smile, the fondness, the… _ love, _ Yosuke concluded. 

Despite every argument that his brain had been trying to make against it (for days, weeks, maybe months?), something deep within Yosuke saw and felt and understood something deep within Souji that could only be, that undeniably  _ was…  _ love. 

“Think of you when I breathe. Breathe a lot,” Souji said lightheartedly, as if those things were two items on a checklist. “Got it.” 

As Souji lifted his hand from Yosuke’s shoulder and then ran his fingers back through his own hair to fix it, Yosuke felt anything but lighthearted. 

He couldn’t hold it in anymore. “I’m gonna miss you so much!” Yosuke exclaimed abruptly while throwing his arms around Souji. He squeezed him hard, clutching fistfuls of Souji’s shirt in his hands. 

At the same time, Yosuke was screaming in his head:  _ I love you too! _

Souji held Yosuke firmly and pressed his face against Yosuke’s hair. He adjusted his arms so that one was around Yosuke’s upper back and the other was around his lower back, and Yosuke was somewhere between elated (that Souji would hold him like this) and devastated (that this was just another thing about Souji he would have to miss). 

“I don’t mind,” Souji said, his voice surprisingly unsteady. “I know it’s selfish, but… I want you to miss me.” 

Yosuke pulled back to look Souji in the eyes, and he surprised himself with the response that came out of his mouth so easily: “If that’s what you want, then I’ll miss you like a drowning man misses air.”

Souji’s jaw trembled and he appeared to be biting the inside of his lower lip. He simply nodded and then pulled Yosuke back into his full embrace. 

Yosuke had been so scared of his own feelings, and then of Souji’s, but here, now, with something solid to hold onto, Yosuke finally understood love as something other than terrifying, or something to be resisted.

It was beautiful. It was his to embrace. And it was  _ good.  _

Yosuke didn’t care at all how late he would be for work, didn’t care who might see them holding each other in the middle of the street, didn’t care about anything but soaking in Souji’s warmth. 

The wind continued to blow, not between them, but around both of them, encapsulating them together in the moment—a moment that Yosuke would hold onto for as long as he could. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bring it in for a group hug, guys. BRING IT IN, PLZ

**Author's Note:**

> For first dibs on these cream puffs, follow me on [Tumblr](https://skye-maxwell.tumblr.com)!


End file.
